


Extraordinary Days at Deadtale Academia

by DeadtaliaGang, KurtAvery



Category: Mother 3, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Gen, How Do I Tag, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-07-06 08:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15882645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadtaliaGang/pseuds/DeadtaliaGang, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KurtAvery/pseuds/KurtAvery
Summary: Deadtale Academia, a prodigious school that has helped its students develop their special powers, known as Traits, and magical prowess, is now the target of certain rumors involving one dangerous and rowdy child. Despite no one knowing his identity, the rumors still spread, causing most people to avoid it. Some have gone so far as to prevent their children from attending.Kurt tries to pay no mind to all that, however. All he wants is to make friends and graduate. How difficult could that possibly be?





	1. Doused Memory

_Tip, tap._

_The rain fell endlessly, heavy droplets of water falling mercilessly on the roof, all while he sat in one of the seats placed within one of the small houses in a park that was located near the school building that gave him shelter._

_Well, it wasn’t as though he minded listening to the sound of rain – it was quite mesmerizing. Still, this was troublesome. One hour and a half after the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, and his parents were still nowhere to be seen._

_He could call them–he had a phone with him, after all–but the battery had long since died out, leaving him with no way to contact his family. Or anyone, really. He could possibly try asking a teacher or the security guard for help, but the gates had already closed. In short, he had virtually no choices left other than to fruitlessly wander around the neighbourhood and hope that he could wind up somewhere near his house by chance._

_Ah, he really did regret not memorizing the way from his home to school. But he hadn’t thought he would have needed it for a situation such as this. A price to pay for his sloth, he thought._

_Without much else to do besides waiting–how he hated doing that for so long–he took out his pencil case and a certain piece of paper. He fished around his pencil case, digging through all the random junk he kept in it to find a pen and pencil. And… maybe an eraser, as well._

_There was an assignment due the following Friday, and he had four days left until then. He began to write on the paper to help pass the time._

_Of all things, it was a sneeze that broke him out of his work._

_His head snapped up, startled from the sudden noise. He hadn’t thought that there would’ve been anyone else here in the park with such weather._

_He looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice, and he stopped spinning his head in different directions when he finally found the owner of the voice, sitting somewhat sadly on one of the benches in the park. Her long, blond hair was drenched, and her clothes weren’t any better, either._

_Odd, he thought. The girl wasn’t sitting in one of the houses to protect herself from the rain. Was she waiting for her parents, too? Why was she sitting outside in the rain? Who was she, and why did she feel almost familiar?_

_Those were the questions that raced in his mind as he stared at the girl. Without a real plan or goal in mind, he placed his things back in his bag and took out an umbrella, heading out of the shelter to the girl’s side. He knew it was stupid–he wasn’t one to just walk out of his shelter to just comfort some random stranger in the rain. And yet, just by looking at her downcast expression, he couldn’t just sit still and do nothing._

_He trotted over to the girl in a matter of seconds, quickly reaching her without the burden of his bag dragging him down. His mother had always praised him for his gifted speed, or so she said. He didn’t really feel it was anything special–some of the kids at school outclassed him in terms of speed, but that was because of their traits._

_Once he was there, he hopped onto the bench so he could be tall enough to share his umbrella with her._

_“Here,” he said, in the same brusque tone he normally used, holding his hand out for his umbrella to cover the both of them._

_“Oh!” the girl started, surprise painted on her face. She then ducked her head, low enough for her hair to cover her face, murmuring a soft, “Um, thank you…”_

_She didn’t react negatively at his appearance. That was a first. Usually, people tend to either stare at him in fear or shock. It bothered him a lot when he first started school, but he was used to it by now._

_His clothes were going to be an absolute mess by the time he got home, but that hardly seemed to matter when he had someone he could try talking to._

_Once that thought entered his mind, he hesitated for a moment. Frankly, he wasn’t the best when it came to comfort or motivational speech. He wasn’t even good at making friends at school. Who was to say he wouldn’t mess up his first chance to make one?_

_But then, as he took another look at her face, he realized he couldn’t walk away and leave her to be miserable all by herself. There didn’t appear to be anyone near the park at this time and weather, so the decision rested on him._

_On closer inspection, the girl looked to be about the same age as his classmates. Her bag was completely soaked; her books were going to be in terrible condition. He felt bad, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it._

_Her yellow skirt–designed like the petals of a buttercup–could have passed off as though it was an actual flower, but he was pretty sure it was just a custom-made skirt._

_Her sense of fashion was a little strange. She was wearing a white shirt with sleeves that looked to be far too big for her, draping around her arms loosely. It… wasn’t a strange thing to see, and he might even say it looked great on her, but he had never seen such strange choice in attire before._

_“U-um, do you happen to go to school here?” the girl asked, her voice slow and unsteady, as though she was… almost afraid to speak. She sure was a shy one, wasn’t she? Not that he was one to talk, of course._

_“Ah, yeah, I do,” he responded. After a few moments of consideration, he added on, “How did you know, though? I don’t think I’ve seen you before…”_

_“Oh, uh, well,” the girl paused, to recollect herself or to think, he wasn’t quite sure. But he patiently waited for her answer. “I recognize that uniform you wear. And, you stick out a lot in a school where nearly all of the students are humans, y’know?”_

_“Huh,” he said simply, filing that bit of information for later. That meant she was a student, too, right? He was sure that there wasn’t a single school in existance that had a shirt like hers as their uniform, but if she isn’t wearing her uniform, does that mean she wasn’t a student here? No, it couldn’t be. She said he stuck out in the school, meaning she was there if she knew him. So, why…?_

_Well, regardless, that would have to wait. He was curious about her, but one way or another, he had the feeling that the girl wouldn’t like it too well if he pressed her for an answer. Other than that, he couldn’t really say that he recognized her in return._

_Although, now that he thought of it, he had seen her before, hadn’t he? He couldn’t quite recollect the memory all too well, but there had been a moment when he might have came across this very same girl in school one day. While he wasn’t entirely sure, he remembered a time when he was perplexed that the girl was wearing a skirt different from the other female students he had seen. Other than that, she didn’t really leave much of an impression on him._

_“So, what class are you in?”_

_“Huh? Oh.” Being too caught up in his own thoughts, he was caught off-guard by her sudden question. Still, he answered, “2A. I’m in Class 2A. What about you?”_

_The girl visibly brightened. “Ohh... I thought I remembered seeing you there. Well, I’m in Class 2B. I’m, um… Myeong. Nice to meet you!” she said, awkwardly offering a hand and a polite smile._

_He took her hand and shook it, smiling in return. “I’m Kurt. Nice to meet you, too.”_

* * *

 

Kurt wasn’t a very decisive person. That was why he was still holding the brochure he had received from a passing Wingull on a normal Friday morning. A few weeks after receiving it, he still hadn’t come to a decision, yet.

He stared at the name that was being proudly presented on the top of the brochure. “ _Deadtale Academia_ ”, it said.

How strange. Even with the knowledge of his childhood friend attending that very school, he hesitated transferring on various reasons.

_“Hey, have you heard? There’s apparently some kid from that school who’s been going around making fights with the other kids there.”_

_“Seriously? Maybe I shouldn’t have my kids attend there…”_

He didn’t exactly trust his neighbours, but those comments made him doubt, and the vicious hold of doubt was one thing Kurt had trouble escaping from.

He sighed. The end of the school year was approaching soon, too, and he had about two, or three, days left to decide. No rush, he told himself, but now seemed like the perfect time to rush things.

He was still mulling over his decision when he heard a shrill scream come from somewhere. In an instant, he immediately rushed over to the source of the voice. Was there an accident? A burglar? Some kind of villain running loose?

Right as he took a turn to his left, he saw an ordinary, yet dangerous-looking, thug taking a woman hostage. The thug carried a knife, which he brought near the woman’s throat in an attempt to hold off any one daring enough to rescue her.

Even with all the ruckus, all the danger that presented itself in the situation, the only thing that Kurt could think was,

_Ah, this looks bad._

“He-hey! Don’t come near me! If you don’t I-I’ll–!”

Before he had the time to blink, a new figure appeared right behind the thug and yanked his arm, the one holding the knife, and forced the knife out of his hands. The figure, a female and oddly wolf-like, it seemed, pocketed the weapon away and gave the thug a hard chop to the head. The thug dropped helplessly to the floor, allowing the woman to safely run away.

“Wait–isn’t that Spar Lamarca? The teacher from DTA?” one of the onlookers said. This drew the crowd’s attention, and they all effectively hogged to Lamarca with questions and pictures.

There were police who arrived on the scene, the sirens on their cars blaring loudly. Probably, someone called them while Lamarca was dealing with the hooligan. They handcuffed the knocked-out thug and detained him before carrying him into one of the sparse amounts of police cars that were currently stationed, but Kurt paid very little attention to all of that.

This person was a teacher, huh? And from DTA? That would explain her previous display of skill–the teachers in DTA, along with having powerful Traits, had impressive levels of strength, agility and wit. She didn’t look entirely human, neither did she look like a Pokémon. Maybe someone with transforming powers? Or, perhaps, a power that changed their appearance at birth? Or was it a mutation? How curious.

Kurt suddenly had a thought–a wild one–if this woman was a teacher in that academy, surely, she would know if the state of the academy was really as bad as people said it was. He couldn’t get a decent source regarding the subject–most online forums never mentioned anything regarding the shadowy student and his dangerous nature, and he only knew about it through his neighbours. A teacher should surely know if such a rumor was true or not.

But he couldn’t possibly ask that in front of a crowd this big. He hated having too much attention on him in public. Maybe he should just wait until the crowd dispersed enough and–hey, wait. Was Lamarca slipping through the crowd?

Cautious, he followed her as silently as he could. He used the brochure he kept with him as a cover. He jerked when he realized that would definitely be too obvious, but he recovered enough to realize it probably wouldn’t matter in the long run. He kept his eyes on the brochure, the road and on Lamarca as well, as best as he could. She seemed to be headed towards where the academy was located. If she realized the snake was following her, she didn’t show it. Still, he wasn’t exactly being conspicious about his movement, she was bound to know eventually if she looked behind her for more than a second. A Snivy following one of the teachers in DTA would be obvious and plain suspicious.

Not that that mattered, much. All he needed to do was wait until they reached a place that was empty from the eyes and ears of the crowd and then he could talk to her.

Once Lamarca had gotten to a street that wasn’t filled to the brim with people, Kurt took a few more steps and raised his voice – enough for her to hear, but not loud enough that anyone else who was near the street would eavesdrop or interrupt. “He-hey, wait!”

Did he just stutter? Two years spent in the presence of new students and teachers in his new school in the city and he still couldn’t keep his voice steady.

Lamarca turned around, eyes wide as she looked around to find who had just called out to her. Her eyes finally rested on him, and she relaxed at seeing the sight of a normal, albeit extraordinarily short, school boy.

“Yes, what is it? I assume you were referring to me,” she questioned.

The woman was indeed wolf-like, but there was something fox-like about her as well. She didn’t look anything like those humans with animal based powers he met before. She had a messy mop of darkish brown hair, and had white fur. In the place of what should be her left arm was a bionic arm. That was the arm she used to knock that thug out cold, he realized.

Lamarca gave a polite cough, and Kurt realized he had been staring without noticing. Arceus, that must have been incredibly rude. He had probably already ruined his one chance of finding answers about his future school, he lamented in his head.

“Ah, so-sorry,” he laughed, but it came out all nervous and jittery. “Um, I… I wanted to ask you something. About, uh, the school you work at.”

Lamarca had one of her eyebrows raised.

Ah, was this what it felt like to be embarrassed? What was the solution one of the neighbourhood kids had given him on escaping awkward situations? If he remembered it correctly, it was something along the lines of, “Just drop in a ditch and pray for a quick death.”

He continued on, forcing away the mounting levels of shame into somewhere far away in his mind. “There was… there was this kid that everyone kept talking about. He was a student in the academy, and the things people said about him were…” he trailed off as memories resurfaced into his head.

_“Sweetie? Sweetie – what happened to you? Who… who did this?”_

_“You know, they say DTA’s the best school there is ‘round here, but, now, there’s this one kid…”_

_“You can’t let them go there. It’s dangerous. Stay away from there if you know what’s good for you.”_

“…unpleasant.”

It was always odd, how not one article or one person on the net talked about that kid, or how some of the kids he knew went home with bruises and injuries – and how all of those injuries always looked so similar. How everyone whispered of ‘that kid’, yet never mentioned his name.

But Myeong had never once been a target, much to his immense gratitude. That much was a saving grace.

“I wanted to know if those rumors are true or not.”

Lamarca stared at him, expression unreadable. Kurt fidgeted nervously, but kept his eyes firmly ahead. Seconds passed, then minutes. He couldn’t tell how much time passed during that moment of tense–at least to him–silence, but it felt like an eternity was rolling by as he stood there, patiently awaiting her response.

Finally, Lamarca answered, “It’s true that we’ve been getting reports regarding a student who’s been causing fights around the school in secret–” Kurt felt a stab of remorse. “–but, we’ve been investigating. If you happen to find out whoever’s been making those fights, tell us and we’ll straighten things out.”

Kurt nodded, then stopped when he processed a certain part of her sentence.

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘if I happen to find out’?”

“That brochure you’re carrying,” she said, pointing towards the item in question. “You’re considering transferring to the academy, aren’t you?”

Kurt nodded again.

“While we don’t have much information regarding that student you mentioned, we can, however, do our best in finding out who’s been the one making those private fights,” she smiled warmly. “Besides, the academy’s not a bad place to be in.”

With that, Lamarca turned around and continued walking down the street, presumably towards the academy.

Kurt stood there, rooted to the spot for a while, silently considering Lamarca’s words. Lamarca seemed like a nice person, and even if that kid was definitely not just a rumor, his doubts slowly faded away after what Lamarca had said. Unlike most teachers he had met in his life, Lamarca gave off the impression of a trustworthy person. If anything happened to him in school, he could turn to her for help. He could trust her.

Well, it was about time he headed home. He checked his watch, and found out that it was – two hours after school ended? Oh, boy. Ah, well, Mother wouldn’t be home to scold him for being extraordinarily tardy, though that hardly seemed like a good thing.

What kind of school would DTA be like? He didn’t know then, and he still doesn’t know now. But, with what Lamarca told him, that dark cloud of doubt started breaking, and a few rays of hope entered within his mind. Maybe, this wouldn’t be a bad idea after all. He might even be able to personally meet his childhood friend again!

Ah, the possibilities excited Kurt. Whatever that he may face in the future, it was going to be worth it.


	2. A Shift in Normalcy

_Kurt wasn’t usually one to wait for someone at the school gates. But in recent years, he’s been spending more and more of his after-school hours waiting for two of his friends. Or, rather, one, in today’s case._

_Of course, this meant exposing himself to the wary eyes of the public and the school staff and students, which was awful. It was already bad enough to deal with his own classmates and the other students in his school, but being out in public made it worse. He fleetingly considered leaving after the umpteenth time someone looked at him oddly, but that meant leaving his only friends at school, and that would be even worse._

_And so, he resigned himself to stay in one place as pairs and pairs of eyes lingered on his form. To be perfectly honest, suspicious looks weren’t anything new – he was always treated with those kinds of eges wherever he went, but there seemed to be more of them than usual, and it felt overwhelming, enough so that he could almost feel himself shrivel up. That was just how terribly oppressive it felt for him._

_Kurt very nearly considered finding another spot to wait, when he finally heard the voice of his friend from within the school gates._

_“Kuuuurt! Hey, over here!”_

_Turning towards the entrance of the gate, there he found the distinguishable form of a young girl with long, blonde hair. She was waving at him, most likely, and was rushing towards his side with a spring in her steps._

_Well, she certainly didn’t mind attracting even more attention._

_Regardless, Kurt felt an immense sense of relief now that Myeong was here. The oppressed feeling he had from those inspecting gazes faded away and left him feeling light. Myeong’s presence worked like a charm, it would seem._

_He waved at her, smiling a little._

_As Myeong got closer, Kurt noticed something odd. “Chias isn’t here with you?” he asked, brow raised._

_She shook her head sadly. “No, she moved somewhere else. That’s why she isn’t here.”_

_Of course. It didn’t come as a surprise–she did tell the both of them just yesterday–but it still stung a little. Even then, he still had Myeong with him. That was a saving grace._

_“Oh, and, Kurt,” Myeong said. “I’ll… be moving out, too. To the city.”_

_… Ah. Well, there went his saving grace. Just his luck that the only two friends he actually made happened to have moved out at the same time. Must be some kind of cursed fate._

_Inwardly, he felt upset. This meant going home alone and without a companion to talk to. Sure, they could contact each other through phones, but it just wouldn’t feel the same._

_Outwardly, however, he simply pasted a reassuring smile. He’d been practising to put on a convincing smile ever since he had met the two people whose companies he truly enjoyed. “Hey, that’s great! Didn’t you say you always wanted to live in the city?”_

_“Well, yeah, but I like being with… with everyone,” she said, remorsefully. “I just wished I could talk my mom out of it, but I couldn’t. Sorry…”_

_He used one of his vines to pat her back – being tiny sucked sometimes. “Hey, hey, it’s alright! I’m not gonna blame you for something you couldn’t control.” He faced forward and lowered his head slightly, silently murmuring, “I’ll just miss you, is all.”_

_Myeong stayed silent for a moment. “You’re… not mad, are you?”_

_Kurt whipped his face around, incredulous. “Why would you think I’d be mad? I’m not.”_

_Sure, he was upset over the matter, but he would get over it. Hopefully. But he certainly wasn’t mad. There wasn’t any reason to be, the poor girl just had a stroke of bad luck, like him._

_But Myeong didn’t answer._

_He frowned. Her cheerful personality made it easy to forget that Myeong was just like most children, that she still hurt easily and her emotions were fickle and soft. It was something he couldn’t quite fully grasp, having guarded and hid his own emotions under so many different masks over the years, kept behind by a wall of stoic indifference– a complete contrast to the girl who was tagging alongside him._

_Not that he remembered what that was like, really._

_Over the years, Kurt had learned a thing or two about humans and emotions. When in doubt, people needed reassurances, to know that they counted, to know they were needed, and to know that someone did care._

_“Hey, Myeong,” he said, clutching her dress to grab her attention. “Even if we all live apart from each other, we aren’t gonna stop being friends just because of that, y’know?”_

_That seemed to make her feel better, as her face brightened up._

_“Yeah, you’re right.” And then, she returned to her cheerful self, but even Kurt could see that a hint of sadness was still present in her features. “Thank you, Kurt. For everything.”_

_It was Kurt’s turn to stay silent now. He had never once thought his only two friends he had ever made would move out of his life. It could even be permanent, if fate was truly that cruel to him. Still, there wasn’t much he could do about it._

_So, he cracked a joke. “Why are you talking like you’re at my grave or something? Lighten up a little!” he grinned, smiling on the inside when Myeong gave a sincere and light-hearted laugh, and some of the tension lifted from her face._

_He then looked up at the sky, a wistful look in his eyes as he gazed upon the calm scenery around him. “But really, don’t sweat it – that’s what friends are for.”_

_Of course, it would have been calm, with the silent breeze of Autumn and the crisp leaves falling around them, if it weren’t for those whispers. He had been hearing them for a long time, but ever since he met Myeong, they’ve only gotten louder and clearer. But even now, all he could make out from all the hushed and crowded noise around him were incoherent mumblings._

_If Myeong could hear them like he could, and he was positive she could, she didn’t show it._

_He turned around,_

_There was no one._

* * *

 

There wasn’t much to be said about today – especially when it was just another boring day in school.

Kurt didn’t pay too much attention during classes today. Not when the recent events of yesterday were still fresh in his mind. He tried to focus a little so he wouldn’t be caught spacing out, and since the teachers never really called him out, he supposed he did a good enough job hiding it. With his mind occupated, the day passed by in a blur, and before he knew it, the last period was over already. From his seat, Kurt could hear the other students talking about things. Normal, fun things that Kurt really couldn’t care too much about. He never really got along too well with anyone at school – though there was one person whose presence he didn’t mind too much. He supposed it was the fact that people seemed to avoid him, most likely due to his appearance.

Well, whatever. Soon, he wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore. Just one more day before the holidays, and then after that, he’ll be in DTA. He wasn’t too broken up about leaving this school – he had barely any fond memories about it, to begin with.

He placed his belongings in his bag and stood up from his chair, the weight of his bag less heavy now that he’s spent entire years carrying such luggage around. Going to school apparently did wonders for his physical strength, but not so much for his mental ones. He was about to leave the classroom when one of his classmates suddenly addressed him.

“Kurt! You’re going to transfer to DTA next year, right?”

He turned around to look at whoever was addressing him. The boy, about as old as he was, was someone Kurt recognized easily, though that didn’t mean that the person was someone Kurt liked very much.

Harris wasn’t someone he really hated, nor did he consider him as anything close to a “friend”. At best, he was just a well-known acquaintance of his. Kurt didn’t quite mind his presence as much as he did the rest of the class, but they didn’t get along much, either. Kurt honestly hated spending time with the silly friend group that constantly surrounded the boy–mindless puppets they were to the boy’s whims–and as time passed by, he stopped hanging out with them in higher frequency.

Kurt plastered a fake smile, one he had expertly crafted through years of experience, and the words were already on his lips before he uttered a word. “Yeah, I am.”

Not wanting to continue this conversation any further, he hurried his way out of the class, almost making it out the door before–

“You’ve heard of what that school’s like, right? Be careful.”

Kurt paused for a moment, taking the time to consider his words. Really, his tone and concern sounded genuine enough, but Kurt knew there was more that Harris wanted to say, more that was on his mind than what came out of his mouth. Words that would never be truthfully spoken when they talked, and, having spent some time with the boy, Kurt knew how to read between-the-lines.

He faced away from his classmate, and, without bothering to put on a façade this time, he muttered a quiet, “Yeah, sure,” before leaving the boy and the class behind. _Finally_.

Even from outside the class, he could feel some of the other students sending stares his way, and, if he hadn’t spent his entire life trying to ignore them, he might have frayed his nerves just a bit. It did, however, make walking alone feel awkward.

Absently, he brought out his earphones and selected a random song from his playlist. He tuned out most of the noise around him, but not enough that he wouldn’t hear when someone called out to him. It helped–a lot, really–and Kurt relaxed as the soothing melody of the music relieved him of whatever tension he was building up. Even if he could ignore those looks–those oppressive, neverending eyes–he could never quite shake off how small he felt under the weight of those stares.

Kurt felt the next few minutes of his day run by on autopilot, and right as he exited the gate and was finally out of the school premises, he tucked his earphones safely in the pocket of his jacket. He walked towards the park that he tended to visit after school, going on a somewhat hurried pace. As he walked along, the nearly mute voices he heard in his head grew louder, and as annoying as it felt, he endured the noise as best as he could. With enough time, they would soon pass and he could have peace again.

Once Kurt reached the entrance to the park, he ran up excitedly to the person who sat on the benches in his lonesome. “Xavier!”

The Oshawott, wearing the same uniform as Kurt, blinked and looked towards Kurt. Xavier brightened as he saw the snake, jumping down from the bench to run up to him. “Kurt! You’re here!”

Like Kurt, Xavier was someone who didn’t quite get along with his human classmates. The two bonded over a mutual understanding they had for each other, and in a short period of time, they became best friends in seconds within the time they started talking to each other. When Kurt first laid eyes on the otter, he was intrigued, and perplexed, to find another Pokémon like him, though he didn’t approach Xavier at first. It was his normally reclusive nature that negated his ability to just walk up to him and start engaging him in a conversation. Still, things worked out rather well for both of them in the end, so he supposed it wasn’t too bad.

Kurt smiled in fondness as Xavier started relaying his day to the snake. It was… nostalgic, seeing the way he excitedly chattered on and on without much pause. Almost… almost like…

“And, Kurt, I heard you decided to transfer over to DTA next year! But I don’t know anything about that school, so what made you decide to transfer there?” At the words “transfer” and “DTA”, Kurt refocused his attention back to the topic at hand. Right, Xavier just asked a question, didn’t he?

“A lot of reasons,” he replied simply. He paused for a brief moment, before adding, “And, well, a friend I know before who’s in that school. That’s mainly about it, really.”

Xavier nodded, a little too vigourously, but he later sobered up. Kurt stared sidelong at the sudden sadness that his expression had taken in. “If this… this choice makes you happy, it would make me happy, too. But, Kurt…” Xavier hesitated, unable to form the words he wanted to say. There was an audible gulp, but he continued on as though nothing was amiss. “I’ll miss you.”

Unexpectedly, Kurt felt a sharp stab of guilt at his fellow Pokémon’s words. Ah, was this how she felt back then? Initially, he believed transferring would have been an easy choice to make, but hearing that, Kurt couldn’t help but hesitate himself. But, he had made his choice already, hadn’t he?

Kurt adopted an earnest smile, pushing back the worries and doubts that might have otherwise formed in his expression. He patted Xavier on the back–much easier now that he was the same height as someone else for once. “Even if I’m in a different school, we aren’t gonna stop being friends, y’know?”

Xavier stayed silent, staring at him with wide eyes, before he returned the smile, almost twice as bright and cheery. “Yeah, you’re right. And, hey, let’s go home together! Our homes aren’t near each other, but we can both take the bus.”

“Alright, alright. Right behind you, Xavier.”

While the two were walking their way to the station, Kurt paused once when they reached the gate that was at the other side of the park. Thankfully, during the conversation the two were having, those voices kept silent enough for him to have some semblance of quiet, but right as he was about to exit the park, they began to increase in volume, nearly giving him a headache. He tried to focus through all the noise, but with the unrelenting assault of… voices making it more than difficult to piece together anything in his mind, he gave up any and all attempts at listening.

Ah, this was why he mostly avoided parks like these.

It took Kurt a minute or so to realize that Xavier had been calling him. And–wait, wasn’t Xavier out of the gate just now? When had he returned to his side–?

“Kurt, are you okay?” the otter asked, his voice cutting through all the other voices he was hearing.

Kurt faked a smile. “Yeah, perfectly fine – just a little... caught up in my thoughts.” Which wasn’t a complete lie, but he didn’t feel quite comfortable sharing this just yet, not even to Xavier.

Xavier seemed to have taken the hint, as he graciously didn’t interrogate him any further than that. The two trotted together out of the gate with Xavier’s chatter helping to fill the void of silence during the walk.

While seated on the bus, they conversed leisurely to pass the time, but not loudly. Kurt didn’t know why, but speaking in English instead of Pokémon-speech felt more comfortable, and it seemed Xavier felt the same way.

Throughout the ride, Kurt felt some of the eyes of the other passengers boring through the two Pokémon, but with the help of Xavier’s chatting, he was able to ignore them much easily. He heard some of them, mainly the children, saying something that he couldn’t quite make out. He could have sworn he heard one say, “the blue one looks better than the green one”, though he might have just imagined it.

Swallowing down the disdain and bitterness that had began to stir up inside of him, he responded to Xavier’s question, something about whether it was ethical for Pokémon to eat meat from normal animals. Kurt wasn’t really sure if he was paying attention all that much, but he nodded along as he usually did when Xavier got excitable like this. Arceus bless this kind soul.

Before Kurt realized it, the bus had already reached where he needed to be. Quietly thanking Xavier, he headed for the back exit of the bus, stepping out of the air-conditioned atmosphere into the crisp, fresh air of the outside. A certain road that led to his house required trekking into the woods at one point, which was why he had his earohones at the ready as he went his way home.

The rest of the journey went on as normal without much disturbance, and Kurt had already reached his house before it got dark, thankfully. Though this usually meant Mom wouldn’t be home until… noon, usually. If he was lucky, she would return by ten.

Well, whatever the case, he had the house to himself, and that meant _texting freely_. Ohh boy.

By the time he cleaned himself up and got on the couch, out came the smartphone. His tiny fingers made using a phone awkward way back when he first received one of his own, but he learned how to handle it without much difficulty by now. He lazily wore his earphones, opening up a playlist before moving to his messenger app. He could only imagine his mother’s reaction if she were to see him slacking around like this.

Not that it mattered – after all, there was only one day left before the end of the school year. After that, and the following holidays, what came next was…

He opened one of his contacts, quickly writing a message. His hands, though small and with less fingers compared to those of a human, worked swiftly.

Kurt:  
_Yo, Myeong_  
_You free? Got smth I wanna share ASAP_

The reply came almost instantly.

Myeong:  
_Sure!_  
_I was thinking of messaging u just now but I thought u would still be at school_  
_So what do you want to talk about?_

Kurt:  
_You know that school you’re in, DTA, right?_  
_I’ll be transferring there next year_

Myeong:  
_oh_  
_Oh_  
_OH MY GOD AAAAAAA_  
_HOLY SHIT YES_  
_NEXT YEAR??_

Kurt:  
_Yeah, if I don’t suddenly change my mind, that is_

Myeong:  
_Ahhh, Im so excitedddd_  
_Oh gotta go, Im in the bus rn and I just reached my stop_  
_Talk to you later, Kurt! :D_

Kurt:  
_Right, right._  
_See ya_

Without much else to occupy himself with, he closed the messenger and opened up a game he often played, the loud music from his earphones still blaring loudly all the while. He focused his attention on the device in his hands, gaze solely fixed on it in a way that prevented him from looking at the table in front of him. Or rather, the picture that was resting on the table, looking utterly out-of-place near the bowls and bottles that were also placed alongside it.

He stopped himself from looking at the photo. Guilt would normally flood his emotions the second he laid eyes on the item in question, and the rest of times when it didn’t, he felt a sense of discomfort that faded immediately once he tore his eyes away.

The photograph, taken years before when Kurt was still a tiny little snake. But it was a _happy_ one, and that was what made him guilty.

Looking at pictures taken in the past, pictures of him, was something he couldn’t quite bare. It left a nasty pit in his gut, complete with digust and shame, which was directed at himself.

He shook his head, forcing those thoughts, and memories, away. Happy thoughts.

As it turned out, it didn’t take long for the school year to end. It helped that he had mostly nothing to do but laze around in his house. He mainly spent his time texting Myeong, and, looking back, Kurt would have slapped himself silly for not asking if she would have minded if he visited her. Honestly, with the recent hype of him transferring over to the academy, and with him having some free time, the thought hadn’t crossed his mind.

Soon, he found that the holidays had already gone on by without much delay. When the time came for him to take the entrance exam, he breezed through it quite easily. While somewhat challenging, it wasn’t anything spectacular. As such, it didn’t come as too much of a surprise that he passed.

Well, that was all yesterday. Now, he was here, standing in front of the gates.

Kurt stared, silently inspecting the building that would soon be his new school. It was quite a large building – nearly thrice as big as the last school he went to. Kurt’s heart went out to the poor janitors who were in charge of cleaning every aspect of this monstrous-sized school, it truly did.

He was on time. Or rather, he arrived ten minutes before the appointed time, but he didn’t quite go in, not just yet. He was waiting for Myeong, like how he normally did when they all lived near each other and went to the same school.

As he waited for his childhood friend, he considered the possibility that Myeong was already in the school, but the both of them had promised to wait for each other before entering, so that seemed unlikely. Then again, neither of them had specified what time they were supposed to arrive–as they had both been in an euphoric daze when he first announced that he would be transferring to DTA–so that might explain why she wasn’t here yet.

Ah, but what if there was another gate that he wasn’t aware of? Kurt was familiar with neither the school’s interior nor the exterior, whereas Myeong had been a student here for… at least two years, if he remembered it correctly. Perhaps, she was currently waiting for him at another gate, and if she was, he wouldn’t have any way to know.

He was nearly about to have a panic attack when Myeong finally showed up, running up to him in a hurry. Though her hair was different–dyed a dark blue instead of her usual blond, and it was done so well that Kurt might have confused her for someone else, if it weren’t for the easily recognizable flower skirt she always wore–everything else about her was the same, from the bouncy and endless cheeriness all the way to the flower skirt, although the last one seemed to have grown much bigger than how he normally remembered it to be.

Myeong had said that it was probably some kind of mutation caused by one of her powers, and Kurt simply rolled with it. He had gotten the occasional odd looks nearly every day, and he still did even now, so he wasn’t going to pressure her on it like he had been.

What surprised, and worried, him was when she told him she would bleed in case one her petals were torn off. To Kurt, it seemed like an awfully burdening weakness that anyone could exploit, but he was pleasantly surprised to find out that her petals were incredibly tough to take out. Thankfully, even if, by chance, they were plucked out, they could regrow. But even that would still be a painful experience for her.

“Hey… Kurt, you’re… really early!” she panted through ragged breaths. She looked awfully tired, the poor girl.

Had he really? Well, he had thought being early would have been better. “Sorry, Myeong,” he apologised. “Was I that early?”

Myeong laughed good-naturedly at that, all while gasping for precious air. “No, no. It’s… it’s fine! I just didn’t… expect you to be here, so soon. Did I make you wait for long?” she asked, and her breathing returned to a more normal, controlled pace.

He shook his head, waving an arm dismissively. “Nah, I didn’t wait that long, so no worries. But besides that, now that the both of us are here, let’s go in.”

Myeong nodded. “Yeah!”

* * *

 

“So, what class are you in?”

“Huh? Oh,” Kurt was caught off-guard by her sudden question. Still, he answered, “Class 2A, apparently.”

“Woah, really? I’m in Class A, too!” Myeong beamed. “I can’t believe we happen to be in the same class, now!”

He nodded, smiling somewhat. “Yeah, almost feels a little nostalgic–”

Kurt saw a brief flash of black hair, and he barely had time to finish as a child, one who was even shorter than Myeong but still incredibly tall compared to Kurt, zoomed past the two and nearly caused Kurt to lose his balance. Thankfully, he didn’t make a fool of himself by falling, but _rude_.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Myeong scolded, but the boy, who looked to be a little chubby, had already ran away. Double rude.

“Who’s that kid, anyways?” Kurt grumbled underneath his breath.

Myeong seemed to have heard him, as she said, “I think… that was Matukas. I’ve only seen him three times since I’ve been here,” she pursed her lips, expression puzzled. “He isn’t a bad person, but he’s been acting really weird lately. I wonder if something’s wrong…”

“Please don’t tell me he’s going to be our classmate,” Kurt pleaded.

Myeong laughed brightly at that. “I’ve been in the A classes for two years, and I haven’t seen him in my class once. I don’t think you have much to worry there.”

They made their way to the stairs, making small talk all the while. They made sure to be quiet, lest they disturbed the other classes. Kurt was learning a lot about the new interesting things that happened to her here at DTA, and in turn, Kurt told her about something he had always wanted to talk about in person, but never had the time to.

“You can talk to plants now?” she nearly shouted, but managed to refrain.

Kurt shook his head. “Not really. At best, I can hear them talk, but I can’t converse with them. Maybe it’s because I’m a snake and they’re, I dunno, plants, I guess?” He paused for a moment to think. “Then again, I am part plant, since I’m a grass-type and all, so, maybe...”

Myeong tapped her chin in thought. “Hm… ah, I know! Maybe I could help you learn how to talk to plants? I mean, it kinda sounds dumb, but…”

“That’s a great idea! I mean, to be honest, I’ve wanted to learn how to gather information using this… ability of mine. So, if it’s not too much trouble...”

“Of course! Leave it to me!”

They continued chatting for awhile, until Myeong stopped halfway during a conversation and pointed towards a classroom to their right. “Class 2A… that’s it! We’re here now!”

The classroom seemed to be quiet, and he couldn’t hear much sound coming from it, but he could hear bits and pieces of conversations from within the class.

Ah, this was nerve-wracking.

“I’m… kinda nervous, right now,” Myeong said, nervously clutching the hem of her dress. “I mean, there’s a chance some students end up transferring to other classes, so you never know if your class is gonna stay the same or not. Last year, we had this one classmate who was… really scary.”

Kurt could only hope he wouldn’t have to deal with that the moment he decided transferring to this school.

“Well, we’re not going to get anything done if we just stand around here, so let’s head in.” And with that, Kurt opened the doors–using his vines. Again, being tiny _sucked_ –bracing himself for–

Well, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but the moment the two entered, the entire class fell silent. Seemingly everyone stared at them, and Kurt couldn’t help but to be reminded of his past school days.

 _Ah_ , he thought. _This sucks_.

Somehow, he managed to gain the ability to speak through his tangled nerves. “H-hi! I’m, uh, Kurt. Kurt Avery. It’s a, um, pleasure to be here with you all.” Was that how class introductions went? He wasn’t sure. He always used those lines during every first day of school where he had to introduce himself, and always assumed that was how it should go. Oh, but the class hadn’t made a single noise, not even a welcome greeting, so maybe he botched it up already or–

It took Kurt a while to realize they weren’t staring at him, but someone next to him. Ah, of course. Myeong. He looked to his left, expecting to see her just as nervous as he was–

“It’s nice to be with you all again! I’m Myeong, but I guess most of you already know that…” she smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. But besides that, contrary to his expectations, Myeong didn’t seem nervous at all. In fact, she seemed… excited. Which wasn’t anything strange, but Myeong wasn’t usually one to be excited during a class introduction. Odd.

That was when the class lost its silence. The class erupted into a chaotic chorus of welcomes, while most went back to whatever conversations they had. Kurt let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. That went well, more or less.

One boy in particular, he had brown hair, ran up to Myeong from his seat and exclaimed, “Sis!”

Huh?

Kurt looked at Myeong for guidance. Apparently, these two knew each other, going by the way they exchanged words. It almost made him feel envious, but looking at this, Kurt couldn’t help but to smile a little. Myeong was so different from back then, when she was shy and softspoken and didn’t talk with others much. Now, she seemed completely at ease talking with this person who was apparently her long-lost sibling, or something of that nature.

“Who’s this?” the boy, who called Myeong ‘Sis’, asked. He didn’t look at Kurt like how people did when they first saw him. There wasn’t a trace of fear or suspicion, just innocent curiousity. Kurt knew he wasn’t hiding any sense of malice or disgust beneath a polite mask and that he was being sincere. He relaxed once he realized that. He could work with this.

“Oh, that reminds me! Let me introduce you two. Kurt, this is Sam. Sam, this is Kurt,” she said. She turned to Sam. “He’s the childhood friend I’ve been telling you about.”

There was a note of recognition in Sam’s eyes. “Ohh, I see. He’s kinda… short. But cute, too!”

…

Did, did Sam just call him ‘cute’?

He had gotten responses like that before, mainly from kids who were quite young, so it only just made him slightly flustered. And, yet, in an instant, he could feel his meek embarrassement grow strangely stronger until he felt his entire face was flushing. Kurt didn’t even know how it happened, but in one moment, he went from feeling sheepish at that innocent comment to wanting to crawl in a hole and die.

“I’ll be taking my seat, now,” Kurt quietly spoke underneath his breath while ducking his head. Goodness, he could practically feel his face burning. Myeong called out to him, probably to apologise or something, but Kurt had already tuned her voice down. The whole class probably thought he was weird by now. Oh, Arceus. He didn’t even know why he reacted that way – he never did, not even when some had called him ‘cute’ in the past.

Once he took his seat, he shyly peeked towards the people who were sitting next to him. To his left was a boy who was sporting a blond pompadour which had a single tuft of pink hair in it. The boy also wore glasses. Kurt didn’t know his name, and he didn’t feel like asking when his face was still flushing with embarrassement, but he gave him a plain greeting, regardless.

“Hello.”

“Hey.”

What a wonderful conversation.

Ah, he hadn’t thought he could be any more embarrassed. That was a terrible greeting, Kurt thought. He didn’t look to his right, much as he wanted to, and opted to instead look straight ahead and force his cheeks to stop burning. This day was turning out well, was the sarcastic thought that entered Kurt’s head.

* * *

 

Lewis inspected his fellow classmate next to him. Besides the raven-haired girl and the other guy with the glasses, this one was a new face he hadn’t seen before. A transfer student, most likely.

He didn’t look like much, and he was quite tiny. His appearance didn’t bother him – he’d stranger things before, but the sight of a little snake trying to fit himself in his chair with his small stature was amusing to watch. The impression Lewis had of him was that the guy–snake, whatever–was a timid soul. He didn’t seem to have an ounce of magic inside him, but his aura was strange. It wasn’t like those of humans with powers, and while it shared simillarities with animal auras, there was a marked difference between his and an ordinary animal.

His aura was definitely that of a Pokémon, but–although he had encountered his fair share of Pokémon before–Lewis couldn’t say he had seen anything like the snake he was classmates with, now. He knew a bit about Pokémon – those strange, mystical species Serena often told him about, and he learned enough from her to know that they were creatures that could strongly react to human emotions. He wondered if that was true.

Regardless, the snake didn’t seem like he would be problematic, unlike that student from last year. So that’s good.

* * *

 

A few minutes after the empty chatter where Kurt spent most of it staying silent even through his classmates’ curious question that he mostly avoided, their teacher finally arrived, and Kurt had never been more thankful to a teacher in his life. Except maybe Lamarca. But did she count?

Their teacher introduced himself as Mr. MoonAir, and he was going to be their class teacher. A mix of emotions ran through Kurt’s head, and the first thing he thought was,

_Is this person really a teacher?_

He looked much younger than any teacher he had met before in his life. Even with the teacher uniform Mr. MoonAir was wearing, it was hard to tell him apart from an ordinary teenager to an employed adult. Still, it wasn’t as though Kurt was one to judge when it came to appearances.

Well, once he had time to calm his emotions down, he started to hope, and a reluctant smile made its way to his face.

Maybe, this wouldn’t be such a bad choice, transferring here.

* * *

 

As soon as the bell for recess rang out, Kurt gave a harsh sigh. Going through the class introductions was a little unnerving after that event, and it didn’t help that he felt a little out-of-place. Most of them seemed to be getting along with each other well enough, save for two or three that he noticed were probably in the same boat as him; lost and confused.

Of course, he should have expected this. Myeong did say that class arrangements stayed usually the same, with a few exceptions. Still, he felt incredibly out of his league. This would take time to get used to.

The good thing was, he didn’t feel anyone staring rudely at his direction. There were a few who looked at him, but they were simply looks of curiousity, not fear, or even suspicion. Kurt felt immensely relieved in knowing that he didn’t have to spend hours in class weathering his classmates’ oppressive stares. In a way, it felt like the opposite of how his normal school life had been like. It felt… oddly nice, in fact.

Well, as for what he should buy… he had plenty of Pokés that his mother had left behind for some reason. Perhaps they were meant to be given to their family back in his home village, but besides that, he didn’t understand why they were there to begin with. It wasn’t like they used them too much, since everything was bought using human currency.

Kurt faintly recollected a memory of when he was texting Myeong. She had once told him about how the food in DTA was reasonably priced. He hoped she was right, because, as of right now, he had only brought with him a few measly coins and a note. Not much to go off of, really.

He could possibly buy a few fruits and some such. He wasn’t particularly hungry right now, since he had just eaten some berries on his way to school. He hadn’t even bothered to pack his lunch, or bring extra money with him just in case. How bothersome.

As Kurt was deeply in thought about his lunch plans, Myeong tapped his desk with a finger, shaking him out of a daze. “Hey, Kurt. Are you okay?”  
  
“Huh? Oh. It’s just you, Myeong,” he said, relaxing at the sight of his friend. Had she learned how to sneak up on people during her time in this school, or was he really that absorbed in his planning? “Um, yeah, I am. Why do you ask?”

“You were spacing out. I haven’t seen you do that since… actually, I haven’t seen you do that in a long time,” she said with a look of worry in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Kurt blinked. Was it that obvious? Then again, the two were close friends, so it wouldn’t surprise him if she knew something was up. “Ah, nothing, really. I was just wondering what I should get for lunch. I didn’t bring much money with me, so…”

“Ohh, is that it? Well, hey, I’ll pay for you, then!” Myeong offered.

“Ah – no, no! It’s fine! I’m not really hungry, anyways,” he countered. “Besides, you should eat, too.”

“What are you talking about? I’ll be eating too! Just… a bit less than what I usually eat…” she trailed off, laughing a little nervously.

Kurt stopped himself short. Was she actually being serious?

“So, anyways, let’s get to the cafeteria already!” Myeong added, beaming.

Kurt was about to make another argument, argue further that she didn’t _need_ to pay for him, but he soon felt the sides of his mouth quirk upwards, forming a helpless smile. It was comforting to know that, through all the years of seperation, Myeong had stayed just the same as always.

“Right. Let’s get going, then.”

* * *

 

“Bonkwa, that was completely unecessary!” Samuel hissed as soon as he left the class once it was recess, voice hushed so no one would overhear.

Bonkwa turned to face him, tilting her head slightly in a “what did I do?” kind of expression. She was putting on her innocent façade, and it might have worked, if Samuel hadn’t known Bonkwa for as long as he had. The two were inseperable friends, although he usually had to put up with her mischevious pranks and playful demeanor, but Samuel was glad to be friends with her all the same.

“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything,” Bonkwa replied, her voice hiding that bit of amusement he knew she was holding in.

Samuel sighed. Bonkwa had everything to do with it, and he knew it was her, going by the way he felt her power suddenly spike up from across the back of the classroom, and she probably knew that he knew, too. Most weren’t aware about that part of her, and even fewer were there people of whom Bonkwa felt comfortable sharing with. Even then, she didn’t seem to mind using that power of hers whenever she could, though the damage usually wasn’t lasting or serious enough that the teachers–and, by extention, Samuel–never bothered to do anything about it.

“You know what you did! I know you like messing with people, but can you please not do that again? I was trying to be friends with him!” Samuel whisper-shouted. It didn’t help that Bonkwa cackled, though no one turned around to stare at them, which, well, he was thankful for. He would have to apologise to Kurt as soon as he saw him again.

“I’ll try. But I promise nothing,” Bonkwa answered with a grin, all while winking cheekily.

* * *

 

Another day, another chance for her to spend her recess break standing in front of the doorway to a club she had often wished to be in.

Lyn wasn’t one who had great ambitions or long-term future goals she took years considering. She was more the type to simply go with the flow and see how things work out. That didn’t mean she didn’t have hopes and dreams, just that she was more comfortable with not wasting too much time on sitting around and doing nothing.

That begged the question of why she was doing the exact opposite of that during her recess break in front of a clubroom. Lyn thought she would lose interest, she truly did, but it had been two years since she had this little spark of interest inside her. Despite her best wishes, she could never quell that spark before it turned into an inferno. It was just all sorts of bad luck.

Lyn hadn’t noticed she was spacing out when a familiar and irritating voice called out to her and unknowingly broke her out of her thoughts.

“Heeeeeyyyy, Lyn! Over here~!”

Lyn had two options; either walk away to the cafeteria or face her ill-timed fate head on. She wasn’t given much time to decide, however, as a person who was as equally familiar as the voice just now was suddenly right next to her. Lyn cursed. Damn Angela and her near insane levels of speed.

Another day, another chance for her to deal with yet another insufferable moment with the one person she hated more than anything else.

Angela was a fairly pretty girl, though that wasn’t something Lyn would go around confessing to. Everything about her, from her platinum blond hair to those bright, blue eyes that Lyn had once admired, only fueled her rage just by glancing at the damned sight of her. As always, that white ribbon she wore looked loosely done, and, for a single, fleeting, Lyn imagined the thing falling off and her laughing at the other girl’s misfortune. Sadly, reality’s never as entertaining as imagination.

They weren’t friends, no matter what anyone said. Though they may have known each other before entering DTA, Lyn certainly didn’t consider her as anything close to a friend. She took a moment to curse her awful luck that made the two classmates ever since they first enrolled in this school. Whoever was deciding their class placements was a cruel one.

For the life of her, Lyn couldn’t figure out why Angela kept bothering her ever since they’ve started attending this school. Whether it was out of guilt or because Angela thought that playing nice would make up for years worth of anguish and emotional pain, it didn’t matter. The last thing Lyn wanted was to talk with the little shit.

“Lyn! So nice to see you!” At that bit, Lyn couldn’t help but to snort. “So, what are you doing here? Are you planning on joining a club?” she asked, a sunny smile, the one that irritated Lyn to no end, on her face.

No, they weren’t friends. And she wasn’t going to have Angela confuse people into thinking they were.

Lyn bit back a particularly harsh response. “And if I am?” she groused, allowing a slight amount of barely-concealed venom in her tone.

Unfortunately for her, Angela was unfazed by her brashness and merely kept her smile in place, bright and radiant as ever. “I’m just curious! Say, you wouldn’t happen to be joining the art club, would you?” she asked, right on point.

From her sides, both of her hands balled into fists and her expression darkened greatly. At this point, Lyn was nearly close to snapping at her, but she reluctantly held back the urge. For fuck's sake, why the hell did she have to annoy her _now_ of all times?

“It doesn’t matter,” she answered, walking away from Angela. No, she did _not_ want to spend her recess break talking to her. She was definitely not in the mood to deal with her, either. Lyn could only hope that Angela took the hint and would leave her alone, but, as usual, the little shit followed, hands behind her back as though it would make her look innocent or something stupid like that, and began to pester her with her voice.

Lyn would have preferred getting hit by a truck rather than to listen to the one person she hated talking to her like they were friends. God, why wouldn’t she just go away?!

“Look,” Lyn spoke up after a few rounds of pointless questions. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? I don’t want to talk with someone like you,” she bit out, spitting the words out while slipping in as much edge into her words as possible to ward the pesky girl away. She would’ve said more, but there didn’t seem to be a point in wasting her energy for something like that.

Something akin to sadness passed on Angela’s face. Lyn had no time to feel guilty about it, however, as she looked away and continued to walk towards the stalls.

Luckily for her, Angela no longer tried following her. In one daring moment, Lyn turned her head to look behind her, and was greatly plleased to find out that Angela didn’t look anything like the cheery little shit she was just now. Good, that meant she would stop pestering her. That kind of solace only lasted for so long, and it made Lyn wish it could stay like that forever.

Once she was far, far away from Angela, Lyn let out a breath that she had held in, taking in deep breaths to push away her anger. She unclenched her fists, and that was when she realized she was shaking, although whether that was from all the pent-up frustration that welled inside her or from something else entirely, Lyn wasn’t too keen on finding out. She might have made a mistake, letting her emotions get the better of her like that. Her fury that had been steadily mounting nearly caused her to lose her sense of control and attack the other girl in a blind rage.

Lyn felt herself stop short in hesitation. The whirlwind of wrath that had slowly been building up inside of her faltered once a shred of doubt and worry entered her system. If… if she had actually lost control, then that would have been horrible for both her and Angela… right?

No – no. That wasn’t the point.

This was fine, right? She didn’t need to talk to her. She didn’t need to be her friend. She was fine with the way she was currently living. And, besides, it wasn’t as though Angela would understand how Lyn felt, and that would be enough for her.

* * *

 

“Wow, it sure is packed in here.”

The cafeteria was extremely crowded, even more so than the normal school cafeterias he had gone to. There were too many people here, but it didn’t seem as though there was much danger of accidental bumps or trips. A wide variety of people were here; short ones, big ones, abnormally short and abnormally big ones, the ones that looked like a hybrid between a human and an animal of sorts and abnormal ones in general. Arceus, there was even a person who looked like he was made out of literal water.

“Scary, right? How big this place is, I mean,” Myeong said, softly. It took quite a bit of effort for him to hear her all over the noise. “But if you stay at the middle lanes when ordering, it’s not too bad here.”

True to her words, it seemed like most people were standing around or passing through the sidelines, either to bring in their leftover plates and trays or to enjoy some of the outdoors in the fields. Surprisingly, not too many crowded the middle lane.

Kurt scanned the entire place, taking in all the different stalls and what kind of food they offered. Kurt almost didn’t recognize most of them, but there was a stall that had a… what were they called, Sawsbuck? Yeah, probably that. The Sawsbuck seemed to have a stall for berries and stuff. There were even different types of drinks made from berries. Kurt was most familiar when it came to berries, but it would be a good chance to have more of a variety, wouldn’t it? Ah, but he couldn’t decide – they all looked equally inviting. Maybe he could go around choosing? Hm… no, that would waste too much of his time, and navigating himself back to Myeong would take too long. He’ll just go for the nearest stall, then.

The crowded atmosphere felt all too familiar, and it was oddly nostalgic.

In the end, Kurt decided to go for a salad and a few pecha berries. Thankfully for Myeong’s allowance, she didn’t have to buy anything for him – the food was indeed cheap, and thanks to the Sawsbuck accepting his Pokés, he only needed to use human currency for the salad. It took quite a bit of effort for him to reach the counters, and it took extra effort for them to notice him. Fortunately, with the use of his vines and his experience with them, he was able to bring his tray safely to the table Myeong was at without dropping it. If people were freaked out by the sight of a snake holding food trays using vines, they didn’t show it. Either that, or that kind of thing wasn’t very unique. Whatever the reason, Kurt was grateful that he didn’t feel anyone staring at him for too long. Thank Arceus this wouldn’t be a repeat of past experiences.

“I was really surprised to hear you say were going to transfer here!” Myeong said, before taking a bite of her waffle.

Kurt stabbed a tomato with his fork. “Honestly, I’m just as surprised. I don’t think I would be here if it wasn’t for that brochure I happened to receive.” He brought the fork to his mouth and ate the tomato. His fangs sank into the vegetable(or, hold on, hadn’t some of his neighbours called it a fruit?), and he found himself savouring the taste just a little. It honestly didn’t taste bad. It was great, even.

He wasn’t sure if that counted as cannibalism, since he was technically a plant when one factored in his Grass-type, but Kurt didn’t let that bother him. “I have to ask, what made you decide to attend this school in particular?” he asked, thoughts of those strange rumors popping themselves up in his head.

Myeong seemed to hesitate for a while, before answering, “I… well, you know when… you, Chias and I were all together?” At Kurt’s nod, she continued. “You both always protected me, whether it was… from someone or something, and I was really happy. Really grateful, too, but…” Myeong placed down her fork on the tray. “I wanted to protect myself, because I can’t always be relying on you and Chias. I had to do things myself, too.”

Kurt felt a sudden pang of guilt. He didn’t know why, but when she said that, a memory from four years ago resurfaced into his mind.

_“Myeong, you need to learn to take care of yourself better.”_

He swallowed the pieces of his salad, though now with a sudden amount of difficulty. He hadn’t thought much of it back when he said those words, but what if…?

The solemn look in her face faded, and she went back to being cheery and all smiles again. “And, besides, this school has taught me more about my powers than any school I’ve gone to. So that’s half the reason, too!” she added, going back to eating her food.

Kurt ate his food at a much slower pace, deep in thought. He didn’t have any special powers of any kind, save for the plant-hearing powers he hadn’t had much of a chance to control. Actually, scratch that part – there was indeed one more ability he had that he wanted to learn more about as well, but…

“Oh, hey, isn’t that Lyn? Lyyyn! Hey, over here!” she called out to the brunette in question. Kurt recognized her as the quiet girl he was classmates with. Either Lyn didn’t hear her over all the noise in the cafeteria, or she wasn’t acknowledging the two of them, because she entirely ignored the both of them and walked on ahead to… wherever. Kurt frowned. Judging by the way her face was set, Lyn seemed to have been bothered by something.

“Ah – hey, Lyn, wait up!” Yet another girl appeared. This time, she was the blonde Kurt saw at his class. Another classmate, it seemed.

“Oh, hey, Angela!” Myeong called. Angela turned to face their direction, eyes widening when she saw the two.

“Myeong! And, uh, who are you again?” she smiled sheepishly. But before either Kurt or Myeong could get a word in edgewise, Angela brightened up, seeming to have remembered something important. “Wait, now’s not the time for that! Anyway, have you two seen Lyn lately? I was trying to follow her, but I think I just lost her,” she added quickly.

Kurt wondered why Angela was stalking poor Lyn, but Myeong spoke up before he had a chance to make a blunt inquiry. “Yeah, I think she just left for one of the stalls. You could find her if you search through all of them,” she supplied. Kurt gave her a look, and was about to ask her why she was helping Angela stalk someone, but he kept silent, fully aware he would only make matters awkward. He would ask her later.

“Thanks! See you two later!” Angela hurriedly said, already on her feet before she could fully complete her sentence. Before he knew it, the spot where Angela had been in become an empty spot, with no traces that she had been there in the first place.

“Hey, Myeong. Can I ask something?”

“Sure! Go ahead.”

“Why on earth did you just tell Angela where Lyn was?”

“Hm?” Myeong hummed in confusion. Then, a note of recognition entered her eyes, and her mouth morphed into a somewhat sad-looking smile. “You see, the thing is, those two? Lyn and Angela? They don’t get along very well,” she explained, that remorseful look of hers still in her face. “I want them to talk to each other, and maybe become friends. I’m… I guess you could say I just want them to be on better terms, since I’m friends with both of them.”

“I… see.” Kurt wasn’t sure what he had expected, but Myeong’s honesty was always a surprise. She was always like that, wasn’t she? Wanting the best for everyone, regardless of who they were. He only wished she knew the best for herself, too. “In that case… do you need my help?”

“Ah, that’ll be great. But I don’t think you need to worry – I think it’ll work out just fine!”

“You seem to have a lot of faith in them,” Kurt commented, before going back to his salad again.

“Do I?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. Kurt nodded. “Well, I mean, I just think that the two of them could be really good friends.”

After that, they ate the rest of their lunch peacefully. They chatted as they ate, and it felt normal, and familiar. The normalcy of it reminded him of past years, when the two of them, acoompanied by another, would spend their recess like this, talking off the afternoon without needing to fret over the gazes of the rest of their class, or bullies, or even the stress in their lives.

As the two talked, Kurt could swear that he saw a figure of someone with chestnut hair sitting beside them, but that wasn’t right. No matter how much he wished for it, no matter how much the two of them wished for it, that was impossible.

Still didn’t stop him from wishing.

* * *

 

“Maaan, that was kinda stressful.”

Myeong stared at him incredulously. “What?” Kurt asked.

“Oh, no. Just… you seem awfully tired after just the first day of school. Something wrong?”

Kurt opened his mouth to make a reply, only to close it after realizing something odd. The fatigue he felt didn’t seem normal, not to mention that incident that happened a few moments after his introduction at class. Was it someone’s power in effect?

“Hey – Sis! And Kurt! Wait up!” It was Sam who called to them.

Ah, him.

Sam was a really energetic and peppy guy, almost like he was Myeong’s other self or something. Ignoring the incident that happened at class, Kurt honestly didn’t mind Sam that much. Judging by how he acted in the class, he seemed to be nice and polite.

“Sam! Nice to see you again!” Myeong chirped, excitement radiating as brightly as ever. “What are you doing here, though? Shouldn’t you be – oh, hello, Bonkwa!” she waved to the… floating… girl? Huh. Kurt was sure he had seen everything when it came to humans and their strange powers. It seemed he was wrong.

Bonkwa waved back, an eerily cheerful smile on her face. There was something about her that exuded a creepy aura, but Kurt wasn’t one to allow something like that to deter him from seeing the girl as just that, a normal school girl. Well, as normal as one could get when they looked like they were hovering a bit above the ground like some kind of ghost.

“Good to see ya, Myeong. And shortie,” Bonkwa greeted, aiming a teasing grin at Kurt at the last part. Kurt internally sighed. No one would let go of his short stature, would they?

Externally, he replied, “Good to see you, too, Sam… and Bonkwa.”

“Oh, yeah, Kurt!” Sam was practically beaming. Huh, now that he thought of it, him and Myeong shared far too many similarities. Myeong had informed him earlier that the two weren’t actually long-lost siblings, and that they were only using nicknames, but could they actually be…?

“So, about the, um, introduction you made,” Sam stuttered a little, blissfully unaware of Kurt’s internal ramblings. “I’m really sorry for what happened! You see, my friend–” It looked like Sam was making an attempt to point towards Bonkwa’s direction, but the latter quickly stamped a hand over his mouth, silencing him for... some reason or another.

“It was nice seeing you two here, but we really need to go, now. See ya!” Bonkwa said, before turning around and running elsewhere while dragging Sam along. If Kurt didn’t know any better, he could have sworn he saw Sam almost glaring at Bonkwa. Huh. Were all of his classmates as strange as those two?

“Well, there they go,” Myeong remarked idly. “I wonder what Sam was going to say?”

Kurt stared at the retreating forms of the two strange kids who were his classmates, and replied, “I honestly have no clue.” But in actuality, Kurt could have more or less guessed what he might have said. He already had his suspicions, but that would be for a later date. For now, Kurt felt the growing urge to just speed his way home and take a long, quiet nap. Oh, how he suddenly longed to have a bite of a Chesto berry. “Speaking of – Myeong, how did you come to know them?”

“Oh, well… they were my classmates last year, and I’m good friends with Sam. Bonkwa isn’t too bad, either!” she beamed excitedly. “They’re really great people once you get to know them!”

“Is that so…” Kurt had no doubts the two of them were good people, but that left the rest of his classmates. The one who sat next to him– Lewis, he came to find out–seemed nice enough, and it was surprising when he found out that Myeong was seated to his right. The rest of the class didn’t give off much of an impression, save for Angela and Lyn, so he had no idea how they were like. Kurt remembered there being an empty seat two seats to his right, next to Myeong. Did that mean there was someone who switched classes or maybe even schools at the last second? If so, who…?

“Oh, hey! Looks like we’re here already,” Myeong’s voice cutted through the haze that had formed in his mind. Right. He was walking Myeong to the bus stop. After that, he would walk home on his own. “See you tomorrow!” she waved, walking up to the bus.

He was sad to see her go, even as she waved goodbye from the back of the bus–Arceus help those poor souls sitting at the back–but once he walked down the same road he had been in just yesterday, he realized that, wow, everything that had happened was for real, wasn’t it? He was now in DTA, had met up with his childhood friend, and made… questionable friends at school. It felt strangely relaxing. Usually, his walks home would be in lonely solemnness, with the only noise he heard being the music from his earphones. For once, he didn’t have the need to block the world around him in music, and Kurt didn’t quite know how to deal with that.

Well, here he was, and he was gonna figure that out one way or another.

Surprisingly, Kurt felt his pace quicken, and suddenly, he was racing towards his home, feet bouncing in excitement over the course of the day. Everything was a new experience, and it was all so much to take in, but it was so exciting, too. Before Kurt knew it, he began enjoying the things he had originally found to be dull and boring. It was like magic, only it was reality. Actually, hold that thought – magic did exist, didn’t it? Well, it did – Ah, forget it. He was getting sidetracked.

It did not take long for him to reach home, and once he saw the front door, he quickly used a vine to reach inside his bag and grab the spare key his mother had often left him with. The key worked, of course, and once he had the lock done, he practically smashed the door aside, raising his voice to shout his arrival, only to realize belatedly that, once again, his mother had left for work.

The lock was an obvious sign, but Kurt had let that slip from the earlier excitement from before. Now, he felt that same rush of energy fade and wane considerably, until the familiar sense of fatigue hit his every muscle in merciless waves. And when Kurt walked in, no longer did he feel any of his cheery self, when the reminder and effects of Dad’s death were still painfully present.

It wasn’t even that recent, or that long ago. It was on an ordinary day, and all it took to end his life, to change their lives in an instant, was a small, little accident.

Kurt picked up a photograph that was lying on the table. It was a happy one, when they were living their lives in the peaceful little village that was his birthplace. The photo displayed a picture of a much younger Kurt in the middle, with a large Serperior standing–did that really count as standing?–to his left while looking like she was hugging the poor boy with her imposing tail, and the third figure…

Kurt had never seen much of his father ever since they started living in the city, but even he could never forget the face of his father, a Glaceon. He was standing proud on four legs, looking at the scene in amusement. How long it had been, since he had seen his father make such an expression? It almost felt like lifetimes ago since then, but Kurt knew that it had only been a few years.

His death had come as a shock, but he still couldn’t feel grief, no matter how hard he tried to. He knew it was because the two of them hadn’t really bonded much, but knowing that didn’t make him better for not feeling even the smallest bit of sadness.

Was something like that normal? Should he feel terrible for not grieving for the death of his father?

He remembered feeling horrible for standing beside his mother, not knowing what to say. Shouldn’t he have comforted her? Say something to ease the pain for her? There probably wouldn’t have been anything he could do to help, but even making the effort to would’ve been far better than being idle, wouldn’t it?

He had spent days, weeks, even months, trying to find his answers. But not once had he ever found one, even with how hard he had tried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little hard to write since I kept losing motivation at certain points, but I got the groove back thanks to music and friends
> 
> Also, forgot to mention this but; Credits to Lewis and all my buddies at the gang for helping beta read this. Couldn't have done this without y'all!
> 
> and also, please let me know if you see any spelling mistakes, cuz i was kinda rushing to complete this. Other than that, if there's critique you want to offer about this story, then feel free to lay it on me. I'm looking to improve and I wouldn't mind some helpful advice


	3. Gathering Thoughts I

MoonAir wasn’t sure what he was expecting the moment he entered the school office, but having Serena, the principal, dump a few files on his hands the moment the two met was something he wasn’t prepared for.

 

Presently, he was running a hand through his hair, sifting through the files as he walked his way to class. He wouldn’t have the time to look through all of them by the time classes began, so he only gave a curious glance to the ones placed at the top. There were a few names on there that he recognized, but others were a blur, only traceable thanks to past records.

 

Matukas, a student whose name was shown on the files was someone he wasn’t familiar with. Lately, said student had been displaying strange behavior – not strange as in the student suddenly gaining violent tendancies, but strange in that he was acting abnormally aloof. According to recent testimonies given by the boy’s classmates, Matukas seemed to be acting skittish as of late. No one really knew how he came to be like this, and when Serena had one of her men look into his mind through use of a Trait(perfectly legal, of course), the act yielded practically no results. Serena had informed him that there was some kind of resistance locked deep in Matukas’ mind, and it took considerate amounts of effort to crack through the barrier, but the outcome had left her with nothing to work with – or so she had said.

 

Why the boy’s mind was locked in the first place intrigued the both of them. It didn’t add up – Matukas’ Trait was registered as a mirage-based power, and mirages had nothing to do with mind locks, or so they believed. It could be possible that there was more to Matukas than he was letting on, or there was someone else responsible for all this. Whatever the reason, he left that bag of responsibility to Serena’s capable hands. He already had a lot on his plate with managing class activities and other agent work, he didn’t need more stress to deal with.

 

He flipped over to the next file. Yiğitkan.

 

This was another interesting one. He only knew this student due to past events Serena had relayed only to him and Spar. Yiğitkan was a great student with incredible powers and talent. His strength had made him one of the top students in his class, only topped by another, more stronger student.

 

He had been told that Yiğitkan was a boy who had a strong sense of pride, so it seemed possible that what occurred last year had been because of feelings of resentment or bitterness, but such things weren’t his to deal with.

 

MoonAir neatly arranged the files and placed them inside the folder that accompanied those files. He would have to investigate this later on. For now, he had his own batch of students to teach.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kurt took the events of yesterday as a learning point and, this time around, he and Myeong managed to meet up at the same time, with no delays, and walked to class together. They didn’t encounter the boy from yesterday, much to Kurt’s relief, and the rest of the walk went on peacefully.

 

“And speaking of, Kurt!” Myeong addressed him while they were discussing something about aromatherapy. It was confusing, since Myeong seemed to be more aware about the topic whereas Kurt was fumbling and struggling to find something to contribute to the conversation, but nevertheless, Myeong suddenly saying his name brought back his full attention. “You said you could talk to plants yesterday, right?”

 

“Listen to them. Just that,” Kurt quietly corrected.

 

“Oh, right. Sorry!” Myeong said, clapping her hands together apologetically. “But, well, like I said before, I could try to help you learn how to control it?”

 

“Ah– yeah. That would be nice. It’s hard enough to deal with the constant voices, so…” Kurt stopped when they finally reached the classroom. “Huh, we’re here already.”

 

When Kurt entered the class, he wasn’t surprised to see that most of his classmates were already there. One half of the class was scattered here and there, conversing with others, while the other half stayed in their seats minding their own business.

 

“Good morning,” Lewis greeted to him as he took his seat.

 

“Ah– ah. G-good morning to you, too, Lewis!” Kurt replied, stuttering a little from the surprise that came from finding his normally quiet classmate greet him upon seeing him.

 

The cheese-haired teen nodded, expression empty and distant, and his attention immediately went back to the book he was reading. Kurt found his gaze drawn to the strange boy in fascination, and a little bit of confusion.

 

Lewis was… interesting, to say the least. He didn’t speak much and, unlike most of the rest of the class, didn’t spend too much time with the others, either. Most of the time, he mainly just… sat in his desk in silence, completely immersed in the books he read all on his own. From his perspective, Lewis almost looked… terribly lonely, but Kurt had never seen him interact even the slightest bit with anyone else, hench his earlier surprise. Maybe it was because he was sitting next to him that Lewis decided to greet him? That might be why he didn’t greet anyone else, but it was a little awkward trying to wring a conversation out of the boy.

 

“Hey, Lewis!” he tried to start, making sure to smile as bright as he possibly could. He wasn’t sure how well of a job he did, since Lewis hadn’t turned his attention away from whatever it was he was reading. He sure was one tough customer, huh? Ah, well. “What’s, um… your hobby? Or hobbies?” he questioned, leaning closer to the left of his seat in anticipation for what his classmate would say.

 

“… Reading, mostly,” Lewis replied in a dead and monotonous tone of voice that completely blotted out whatever good cheer Kurt had been building up. It also didn’t help that he said this without even facing him.

 

And there went the anticipation, deflating like a popped balloon.

 

“Ah… same here,” Kurt weakly said, sinking into his chair a little from the lackluster response and feeling his own enthusiasm drop to the very bottom, all the way to the Distortion World.

 

When Kurt was certain that Lewis wasn’t much too keen on talking anymore, he sighed in defeat and turned to face his right, where Myeong was seated, to discuss more about his mysterious abilities, but he found that she was chatting up with someone else already. Someone with brown hair and glasses. Samantha, if he recalled the introductions the day before correctly.

 

Ah, Myeong sure was popular, huh…

 

Oh, well. Not like plant-hearing powers were the first thing on Kurt’s agenda right now. They had plenty of time to discuss as soon as lunch break started, so he could wait. Patience wasn’t one thing Kurt was too well-versed in, but that wasn’t to say he was one to rush things ahead of time. Speaking of, he really should come up with a name for that ability of his.

 

Plant Sense? No, that was absolutely awful. Snake Sense sounded hilarious, and would probably work if he was planning to be a superhero, but it didn’t really fit. Not for him, anyways. He frowned in concentration, this was something he had never really thought about in much detail. He wracked his brain fiercely, trying to find an appropriate name that sounded neither dull nor cheesy, but every single name he had thought up of on the spot never had that quality that made it just fitting, which sucked.

 

He was just turning to look at Myeong’s general direction to see if she was getting into trouble with anyone, an instinct he’s gotten from having spent his childhood with her, when an idea just so soundly dropped into his head with all the subtlety of a fucking bomb.

 

Natural Sense. He would call it that.

 

Smiling and nodding to himself in satisfaction, he made a mental note to thank Myeong for the inspiration.

 

While still waiting for their teacher to arrive, Kurt tried to reach for those same powers in an attempt to understand them. Expectedly, and disappointingly, nothing happened. There were hardly any plants, besides Myeong and her… peculiar biology, that he was in the vicinity of for him to “hear”, which was both a blessing for his mind and a curse for his drive to control his own unknown powers.

 

Maybe he was doing this all wrong, was what Kurt thought. The school garden wasn’t too far away from the class, or so he believed. Myeong was the one who took him there in the first place, and while his recollection of that place was far more hazy than he would have liked it to be, he was fairly certain it was near the class enough for him to “listen” to them.

 

Or maybe my powers gained a conscious and decided to be a dick, he mused in his head, and was disappointed, and possibly a touch desperate, when nothing answered. Well, sarcasm was definitely no way to go here.

 

During his fruitless attempts to try and reach out to that strange feeling of hearing and feeling in tune with the very nature itself that surrounded him in vast ways that encompassed more than just simple plants and greenery, the class remained relatively tame when it came to noise level, and by the time Mr. MoonAir arrived to teach the first lesson of the day, everyone had already gone to their seats and remained quiet. Of course, during that short span of time, Kurt had made no progress on his little expenditure.

 

Unexpectedly, that calm silence from the class promptly shattered in an instant and turned into a frenzy of noise and loudness previously unachieved during his first day and a half–or was it more akin to a quarter?–of school here once Mr. MoonAir announced something incredible.

 

Well, for most of his classmates, anyways.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Today, we’ll be having a battle exercise with your powers."

 

It might have been a little too early to announce to his class that he waa going to begin a training exercise. Just a little.

 

It was especially worse when one counted the fact that it was only the second day of school, and the resounding cheers and near-chaotic state that the class had erupted into only helped prove that point.

 

MoonAir clapped his hands once, effectively hushing the class in an instant. The drowsy looks that were on the faces of half of the students mere moments ago were now replaced by those of curiosity and half-contained giddy excitement, and mixed in between those were some that were just a little nervous. He supposed this was a good thing – it meant they would be giving it their best efforts, but MoonAir had no doubts that this would end with him developing more headaches than he could possibly deal with in the foreseeable future.

 

Forcing his dread and worries all the way down where it could not resurface again, he relayed his instructions carefully. “This test is to see how well you can control your powers when using them against other people. So, on that note, try not to go overboard,” he said, shooting a brief and almost imperceptible glance at a certain yellow-haired pompadour-sporting teen in the room. He returned his gaze back to the rest of the class immediately before anyone could notice.

 

“You’ll be in teams of two, facing another team of two – the objective is simple; knock out your opponent or render them immobile. Once you’ve done that, you win. You will be given a wide battlefield to work with, so it’s also important to try finding the opponent before they can find you. I’ll tell you more once we reach our destination, but for now,” he stopped short, recalling what he had told the class just the day before. “Have you all got your PE uniforms?” As the class all nodded their affirmatives, he continued. “Good. Change into those and head on out. I’ll wait for all of you at the ground floor. Get to work, class.”

 

From his position, he had a good look of all of the children who would no doubt be a menace of their own kind for him sometime down the road. He assessed them all, soaking in everything about his students, from the way some were eagerly following his orders without hesitation, and the way some were anxiously following behind the eager ones. Most of the class consisted of the latter half, funnily enough. There were a few that didn’t quite fit in with the other groups; they were the ones unaffected by the news, and the test, he had so abruptly dropped into their hands.

 

Leadership and charisma, flexibility and stealth, maintaining composure and state of mind, those were the traits that he was seeking from these children. While not all of the kids here were planning on being a secret agent, he was sure there were only around half or so of them that had decided on that particular occupation, developing some of those traits would benefit them greatly, regardless of what dream they would end up following in the future. Most would think tests such as these were implemented only to find out how well one could employ as many tactics and improve on their thinking, while developing their control on their Traits.

 

In a way, teachers such as himself were not only in search of good Traits, but good traits as well.

 

He could see some of the students whispering to each other, some in nervousness, some in excitement. He shook his head slightly. Really, how could one class of students get so excited over a simple test? If it were him, he wasn’t sure if he could gather up the energy needed to keep him focused.

 

Well, whatever. This year’s class seemed to hold quite a bit of promise, so he would have to watch and see what kind of results they give.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kurt was stoked, like _really_ stoked.

 

He’d been in a lot of fights in school back then, most of which he would rather forget of and lock away in his mind for good, but now? He had full permission to show off his stuff. Though he also had the feeling it was going to be his classmates who would be the ones to show off their stuff. But _still_ , this was gonna be great.

 

Well, before they could begin, one of the students voiced out their objection.

 

“Wait, Mr. MoonAir! Are you sure we should be… you know, having a test like this so soon?” Angela asked. From out of the corner of his vision, he could see some of the other students nod along in agreement.

 

“Well, for starters, this test isn’t anything serious, so you won’t have to worry about scoring rock-bottom,” Mr. MoonAir answered, earning a few sheepish looks and good-natured snickers from the last comment. “And secondly, regardless of what you plan on doing after graduating here, lessons such as these that have you lot learn how to better control your powers are essential– you never know when a single license could mean the difference between life and death out there in case some rowdy, undesirable character starts causing a scene.”

 

Kurt nodded. While not exactly an expert on the subject, he was at least aware of the rules they had on Traits and their uses here in the world. The first most important rule that everyone, save for the unsavory ones who decided to work outside the rules, had to follow at all times was to never use their power unless they had a viable license for it, and even then, people not previously registered in a certain database had to have their licenses checked to make sure they were authentic.

 

From what he could recall from his textbooks and some of the information he had gathered on the net at one point when he was being a lazy bastard with too much time and not much to do, Trait regulations had been relatively lax even after a long time had passed since their conception. It wasn’t until the appearance of a particularly powerful person with a godlike Trait created havoc on the world to the point that many had believed that the world was going to end soon, did laws regarding Traits start being taken seriously.

 

Questions answered and curiosity filled, the class finally departed for what was going to be a very eventful day.

 

Kurt, being a tiny little snake who couldn’t even reach more than half the height of most of his classmates, didn’t really need to fully wear his PE uniform, so he only wore the top, neglecting the pants. Back when he first started his purchase for all things DTA student material, he found that there weren’t any pants available that could fit with his stubby little legs. Still, this would be enough. He now had less to worry about when it came to damaged clothing.

 

Well, if not for that, he would have said it was damn awkward seeing the others wear the full uniform while he had just half on. Sometimes, being tiny just fucking sucked.

 

They’re here now, at the mouth of the entrance that led to where they would be having their test. The walls were tall enough that he couldn’t see what held in store for them within the building, but Kurt didn’t need a search-based Trait to know that this place was huge. He found himself staring at the sheer size of it all – the school had faculties this large inside as well?

 

“Now, children, here’s how this will be done,” MoonAir instructed before they went in. “You’ll be drawing lots to see who your partner will be, and, after that, I’ll draw the next set of lots to see what your team matchups will be. Have fun,” he finished, holding out two cylindrical boxes made of plastic that were probably filled with thin pieces of papers.

 

Kurt eyed the boxes intensely, trying to glare a hole through them. His luck with drawing lots last time had caused him to drop out of that English competition he was so eager on winning, so he was just a tad bit cautious with how his luck would turn out for him this time.

 

When it was his turn to draw lots, he affixed the offending boxes with a suspicious look, and tried to ignore the strange look of bewilderment that Mr. MoonAir was giving him in turn. Then, with great resignation, he sent one of his vines into the box to find out whoever his partner would end up being.

 

The rest class took turns for the lots, and soon, everyone had a piece of paper in their hand without much delay or argument. He stared at the paper in his hand; Team B, it read.

 

“I’ve got a B! Who else has it?” Kurt waved the vine he used earlier high up so his partner, wherever they were, could see.

 

It was Myeong who answered. “Over here, Kurt! I have it!”

 

Kurt breathed a sigh of relief as he started walking over to Myeong. In truth, she was definitely the best choice for his partner, since besides the introductions they made just the day before, he had practically no clue what his classmates’ Traits were like in much detail beyond the simple explanation and demonstration they gave. Without much info, he didn’t have a lot to go by in terms of figuring out the full extent of his classmates’ powers.

 

Myeong was a different story altogether; he knew full well what her powers, both of them, were like, and she, in turn, knew what he was capable of. To say they were invicible as a team would be stretching it, but Kurt had full confidence in the two of them. And with the two having been friends for a long time, they’d work best in a team. They had never fought together, since there had been no need before, but their teamwork would be more than enough…

 

Kurt looked in front of him to see his childhood friend nearly trip as she was trotting towards him, over nothing, no less, and he immediately rushed over to her aid, only to find that Samuel was already at her side, helping her regain her balance.

 

… He hoped.

 

“Nice trip there,” Kurt teased right away the moment Myeong neared his location, a playful smirk settled on his lips. Only a few years of separation and she was still her usual clumsy self.

 

Not that he had much room to talk, but still.

 

The result was instantaneous– Myeong reddened considerably, light pink dusting her cheeks as her mouth flopped to find a proper response to the serpent’s antics. After a few good seconds of spluttering–with which Kurt’s humor grew with every moment, much to the former blonde’s chagrin–she lowered her head, grumbling an embarrassed and annoyed, “Shut up…”

 

Ah, he had forgotten how wonderful it was to tease her like this. Arceus save her poor soul.

 

He laughed, the sound merry and soft. “I’m just messing with you, Myeong.”

 

Sighing, Myeong muttered, “You haven’t changed much…”

 

Despite the words, her tone held a mix of fondness and nostalgia. And, if Kurt’s eyes weren’t deceiving him, he could see the tiniest of hints of a smile.

 

“So!” Kurt began. “Wonder how this test will be like, huh?”

 

“Mm! It’s kinda exciting, right? I mean, it’s the first time I’ve done something like this,” Myeong said with an excited nod of her head, any traces of her earlier blunder gone in the face of her radiant sun of a smile. From within his field of vision, Kurt found that everyone else was scrambling to find their partners.

 

“Wait – you mean you’ve never done a practice match like this, or…?”

 

“Well, a practice match, of course! We’ve only done things like improving our control over our powers in a controlled place, but never a test that included fights.”

 

Huh, well. Kurt was glad to know that even though he was new to this school, he wouldn’t have to worry about being left behind in terms of combat experience.

 

In the end, there was one person who didn’t have a partner – Lewis. Apparently, the boy said that it was only fair if he went solo, so Mr. MoonAir made him both the capturer and the carrier. Kurt was unsure about this – sure, Lewis didn’t give off the impression of one who was weak, and during his introduction, Lewis seemed to have one of the strongest powers in their class, but wouldn’t something like that be too much of a handicap for him?

 

Myeong shared his sentiments too, as she thought aloud, “I wonder if Lewis can handle going alone? I mean, I’d probably panic if I had to go on my own.”

 

The team matchups were later decided; Kurt’s team, Team B, was going up against Team G, which consisted of Kaeren, a girl who had the ability to… make people feel sleepy and mess with their heads a little? Her and another girl named Elaine, who was the one with fire-based powers, and maybe spirit powers, as well, but going by how Elaine had described them, they probably had no use in terms of combat. The fire was the only thing he needed to worry about, it seemed. Besides that, she also had two floating fire spirits that tagged along by her side wherever she went, though their full purpose wasn’t something that Kurt was aware too well of. All he knew was that she could use fire and that his team had the type disadvantage right from the get-go.

 

Ah, how unfortunate.

 

Their match was to be held after Lewis’, so even with that disadvantage in mind, they still had plenty of time to form up strategies of their own in the mean time.

 

Provided Lewis’ match didn’t end too quickly, that is. It would be a shame if he didn’t get enough data to help plan for his own match.

 

“Now, I’ll explain the rules,” Mr. MoonAir began after all the matchups were decided. “Practically anything goes, except for mortally wounding your opponent. Your performance, skill, and teamwork will be graded, so do be careful. Although that last one won’t really apply for you, Lewis,” he said, turning to face Lewis. An affirmative nod was all he needed as confirmation, and Mr. MoonAir went back to addressing the rest of the class. “I didn’t mention this before, but here, you’ll also be using these during your matches,” Mr. MoonAir dug into his pocket and brought out a few strange looking objects; they were similar to badges, only there was an odd design in the middle.

 

“Think of these as targets. You’ll be placing them on you, and if the other team manages to touch them, you lose. They can be set to whatever color you want them to be. There’s a lot of technical details concerning how this thing works, but the short form is that these objects have a sensor, so to say. These targets in particular are programmed so that, once you enter the building ahead of you, it will automatically ignore any contact from the person wearing it. Therefore, once you enter, you will not be able to change its color until the match ends. However, the sensors do not count for other people touching it, so they can change the color to the color their own targets are set as. Your goal, besides the knock out rule, is to convert both of your opponents’ targets so you can win. You’re free to place it wherever you want, so long as it’s on your person, but be sure to take into account the blind spots you’ll be giving the opponents depending on where you put it.

 

“Now then, Lewis, Lyn, Nazalia,” Without bothering to pause for even a moment to gather his breath from that long speech, he faced the ones in question as the three straightened in response. He flashed them a thumbs up. “Get out there and do your best.”

 

The three mentioned froze, before nodding affirmatively, with Nazalia even smiling. The other two had hard, solemn looks of determination on their faces.

 

“As for the rest of you; head for the observation room. I’ll be seeing you all shortly, so don’t go fooling around, you hear me?” As the rest of the class made their agreement, he turned to face the ones who were to have their battle take place first. Kurt didn’t listen to whatever it was that Mr. MoonAir was saying to the three. He needed to get to the room so he could hatch up plans of his own for his match while watching the current one. Learning from their match could help with forming ideas, but ultimately, it all depended on how his matchup was like, didn’t it? He couldn’t quite depend on strategies used for a team that was no doubt vastly different from the one he was going up against.

 

Still, this was all just a learning experience. It would be nice to learn as much as he could from his classmates, but this wasn’t an exam or anything like that – like Mr. MoonAir had said earlier, he didn’t need to fret too much over failure if it came down to it.

 

That didn’t exactly mean he was going to be too lax in his match. If anything, that only gave him all the more reason to give it his all.

 

The remainder of the class, once they reached the observation room, started filling the silence formed by the absence of their teacher with chatter. Kurt could see some of the other students standing close to whom he assumed was their teammate, looking as though they had already begun to strategize among themselves.

 

“Hey, Myeong–” he called out to his teammate, hoping that they, too, could start their own planning. But before either of the two could start, Mr. MoonAir entered through the door, and the entire class fell into a sudden silence.

 

“Right, now that you’re all here,” he said, taking a few steps toward the moniters that were displayed in front of them. “Watch them, and see if you can learn from them.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The elevator doors opened with a chime, announcing the arrival of his destination. Without much else to go off of, he stepped outside the lift, bracing himself for whatever it was his starting point would be like.

 

He imagined a dimly-lit room with a single large table filled with chairs, similar to the ones shifty people would use to attend some nefarious meeting to plot some maniacal plan. He then dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come to him. That would just give the wrong vibe– he was studying to be a secret agent, not some underground black-market dealer.

 

Instead of a reasonably well-fortified building or anything else that could pass off as a base of operations, he was greeted with the sight of a post-apocalyptic city in ruins. It was as though some sort of destructive weapon was unleashed, leaving in its wake nothing but debris and broken roads that could hardly be safe to traverse upon. All around him, he could see not a single building of any kind that was left intact from whatever had gone wild and decided to utterly wreck this place.

 

Lewis found it to be acceptable, regardless of the structure of it all. Without having to worry about collateral damage, he could use his powers without much restraint. Although, going by what Mr. MoonAir told him, it wouldn’t do well for his scores or his future career if he went up to the enemies and made a flashy scene. That would be the reverse of what a secret agent should be doing, which was being discreet while knowing when to strike, and how to make those strikes count.

 

Still, his powers weren’t so good at not making things flashy. Out of his entire arsenal, at most three out of four of his attacks created very bright lights. Not the most effective of choices for exercising discretion, really.

 

The blond psychic peered his eyes at his surroundings in every direction. He might suffer from myopia and his glasses often caused people to refer to him as a nerd, but with just a bit of focus and attention, even he was able to tell that there wasn’t a single building in sight that wasn’t destroyed or reduced into rubble.

 

He frowned during his inspection of his environment once he saw some sort of device buzzing in the sky with a camera strapped on it. Must be one of the devices the teachers used to monitor students.

 

He tore his eyes away from the device– the idea of being watched by anyone, be it family, friends or even strangers, never sat well with him. Discomfort welled up in his stomach and sloshed around in a terrible way, nearly causing him to lose his focus and forget what he was here for.

 

A warning shock from himself brought him back to his senses.

 

Ah, but if he was in a field like this, exposed in an open area, then it was plausible that his opponents were much in the same condition as he was in.

 

Well, thankfully for him, his PSI could easily pick a person out even if they were several miles apart. He didn’t need anything else to find someone in a place like this.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Lyn took a steady breath, trying to calm the rising anxiety that had been roused by her matchup. A sharp inhale of air. An exhalation just as hasty.

 

Nope, she was still anxious as all hell.

 

Sure, Lewis got on her nerves sometimes, mainly during those rare moments when the two crossed their barriers of social interactions and made the uncommon act of talking, but even with all that resentment directed towards the blondie, she couldn’t deny that he was strong, which meant that she couldn’t hold back against someone like him.

 

Not that she was planning to, of course.

 

Having spent two years being in the same class as him, she had a rough idea of what his powers(and wasn’t that a surprise, when his large pool of magic abilities was revealed) were like, but the class introductions helped to refresh her memory a lot. Too much so, she would even dare say.

 

He was never one to open up to anyone, much like herself. If anything, Lyn couldn’t think back to a time when Lewis had ever openly talked with someone. Oh sure, he discussed with his classmates for group projects(those accursed things), and whenever someone addressed him, but it never went anything beyond a simple greeting and farewell. That was mainly why it surprised her, when Lewis started to demonstrate his psychic powers for the class to bear witness to.

 

First up in his demonstration was him explaining that his powers didn’t quite work like Traits, and that it was called “PSI”. It made no difference to Lyn, really. She knew Traits existed in the forms of physical ones and magical ones. Why Lewis didn’t simply call his PSI a magical Trait when it could easily avoid headaches was something Lyn was curious to know of, but not to the point she would suddenly go up to the boy and strike up a conversation just to learn about it.

 

And then, with unneeded, or so she felt, explanations given, he finally started off his demonstration by conjuring up a _“PK Fire”_ , as Lewis had put it. It was odd, since from what she had learned of Traits itself, normal fire-users would either turn into fire or create fires from a certain body part. For Lewis, he started by aiming a finger like a gun on a test dummy, which he had insisted on bringing for his show, and then from that finger a bullet was shot forth. That bullet, upon striking the dummy, spontaneously combusted into a flame that wasn’t as bright or as dangerous as she had feared, but still enough to impress much of the class, including herself, she would begrudgingly admit.

 

This little display of unusual fire magic wasn’t anything special, but when he started to give details and small run-downs about the rest of his powers, he practically shocked the entire class when they learned that he had more than just his fire powers.

 

From that, Lyn learned that he had fire, ice and electric powers in his arsenal, and possibly healing-based powers on top of that. There was more, but after Lewis had explained those, he finished his introduction, and now that she was facing him, it left Lyn to wonder how she should combat someone who had multiple powers, maybe even more that he kept secret, at his disposal.

 

Lewis was obviously a ranged-user, if the fire was any indication, and his physical prowess wasn’t something to scoff at, either. In the two years she had known him, the years when she was first transferred to Class A along with (that _damned_ ) Angela, she knew Lewis was someone who normally scored as one of the highest in PE, only below herself whom happened to be the undisputed top when it came to physical ability. This was troublesome for a close-quarters combatant like herself who didn’t have much in the way of long-ranged attacks, or even a counter for them. Though she had experimented on creating a way to deal with her weakness in combat for many years, most of her attempts had produced far too many failures than she would have liked. In short, she wouldn’t have too many options to counter against the majority, if not all, of Lewis’ elemental attacks.

 

“Let’s win this, Lyn!” Nazalia said with confidence. Confidence that Lyn herself was largely lacking in currently. Well, at least, someone she didn’t know too well was still better than being paired up with Angela. Unless that someone turned out to be worse than her, but even that was doubtful.

 

Nazalia came from a rich family, but she was never one to flaunt her own fortune, and that was something Lyn liked about her. She was humble and kind, and she didn’t look down on anyone like how she imagined rich folk would do. If Nazalia hadn’t said that she belonged to a family like that, Lyn wouldn’t have known on her own. Saying that, however, she felt just a little envious for her classmate…

 

Lyn nodded dejectedly, feeling quite unsure of herself. Nervously, she poked the strange item she was given by Mr. MoonAir that she had placed on the front of her shirt, right above her chest level. What chance did she have in winning against Lewis? Even with the advantage in numbers, it didn’t mean much if Lewis could singlehandedly deal with the both of them at the same time.

 

But, then again…

 

“Nazalia,” Lyn said to her fellow brunette. A few moments after that, however, her face scrunched up, unsatisfied with the way she had said it. “Naz,” she tried again. “What else is there to your power? I mean, other than what you told us yesterday…”

 

Because, in this fight, knowledge was key. Thanks to the way the fights were setup, the two teams were placed far away from each other so they wouldn’t hit it off at the beginning. As a result, this left her with time – time to gather her thoughts and make a plan, no matter how unlikely were the chances of success. How much longer she had until Lewis would start attacking was something she had to keep in mind, of course, but as long as she had time to think of something, half-baked or not, then…

 

Her chances of success were likely to be in a low percent, but what did it matter when this was her first test? She wouldn’t go down without at least putting up a decent fight.

 

“My power… well, I can copy a lot of things using this, besides other people’s powers,” Nazalia said, gesturing to the device that was hanging around her neck. She tinkered with her mask, doing something with it. “I can copy someone’s voice, memories, and appearance.”

 

Just as she finished saying that, the mask suddenly changed. A facial add-on had just slid up from above the mask. “It does that when I switch functions,” she explained when she noticed the gob smacked look on Lyn’s face.

 

Lyn nodded numbly, still entranced by the sudden change that occurred. Though, another, more aware part of her mind wondered what practical use that shift in appearance had.

 

“I can also copy the properties of a certain physical, inanimate, object, and change my mask into whatever object it copied,” Naz further supplied.

 

That… that could be useful later on. She still wasn’t sure what she was meant to do with the other functions of her mask, but for now, this was enough. She took a breath, and dived into an explanation of her own. “I think you already know most of what my power does,” she started. Looking at her hand, palm facing up, she continued, “But well, I can use my power to make physical blows against me useless, and I can store up the energy from those blows to make a more powerful attack, or to boost my jumps and speed with my legs.”

 

Nazalia was listening to all this while putting a hand on her chin. “Hm… your power’s really great. I wonder…” She stood there, contemplating for a while longer, before her face brightened considerably and she just straight up beamed at Lyn. Lyn backed away from how bright her… friend’s face was. “Ah! I have an idea!”

 

“What?” Lyn turned her head upwards, back to Nazalia. If she had a plan on how to deal with Lewis, she was more than willing to listen.

 

“Okay, Lyn, can I ask for a piece of your hair?”

 

What the heck.

 

“... What?” she blurted out intelligently.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Neither of the teams seem to be doing anything,” Kurt commented. The cameras were placed so they only had an overhead view of the two teams. At present, nothing was happening, but that would probably change in a few minutes.

 

… Lewis sure looked cozy in the middle of that cluster of rubble, half-wrecked roads and buildings, huh?

 

“Maybe Lyn’s team is talking about plans? I mean, they were the first to go, so they didn’t have time to discuss…” Myeong added, looking at the scene with rapt attention.

 

“They might be in trouble,” Kurt remarked as he switched his gaze to the camera that displayed the other team. Or, rather, the solo player of the team. ‘‘Because Lewis looks like he’s preparing something.”

 

The cheese-haired teen looked to be doing stretches, which didn’t appear to be anything special at first glance, but then as soon as he started running, to the location of the other team most likely, he disappeared in a flash of yellow, leaving much of the class thoroughly impressed by his display of agility.

 

“He’s quick,” muttered one of his classmates. This one he recognized to be Max, the girl with white hair and some kind of creation-based power. She had odd-looking… pads, plates or whatever they were called on her cheeks. It might have been a trick of the light, but Kurt could have sworn that they were glowing in a faint blue hue. Which was strange, because since when had they glowed at all? Certainly not during the few glimpses he had of her from yesterday.

 

Kurt blinked, but the light was still there. Huh.

 

“He’s also leaving behind a trail,” stated someone else. Kurt vaguely recalled that the owner of the voice was Elaine, the raven-haired girl he was going up against. “They look like… some kind of energy trail. Almost electric-like, even.”

 

“Wait, how can you know that? I don’t see them…” said a boy, looking at the screens with extra attention and confusion. Kurt knew him to be Josh, the one with the familiar, which he named Aqua, trailing him wherever he went, similar to Elaine and her… spirit guardians, as she had dubbed them.

 

Elaine rolled her eyes and replied in a tone filled with sarcasm. “Probably because your eyes are awful.”

 

“Hey!” Josh shouted indignantly.

 

“Look!” Max pointed to the screens, redirecting the class’ attention back to the match. “Doesn’t it look like Lewis has caught up to Lyn and Nazalia? He’s running in a certain direction now; he must have figured out their hiding place already.”

 

And, well, it seemed to be the case, for Lewis made a jump, springing up to the air with his psychic abilities allowing him to reach higher–somehow or another–before crashing down to the ground with a well-placed punch filled with a lot of power that probably wouldn’t have normally fitted on a boy of such stature. If Kurt were to describe the scene, he had to admit that it looked _epic_. But besides that, in the midst of the destruction caused by a rampant cheese-haired teen, the already ruined and devastated ground, cracked and blown into an even more chaotic state, started to freeze over from what most likely seemed to be from Lewis’ psychic powers.

 

The monitors shook slightly, the images playing began to blur as the impact likely made the cameras stationed in the field unsteady, but the shock of it wasn’t so bad that it made viewing the battle impossible.

 

From the screens, Kurt could see a few signs of ice forming from around Lewis, and that small packet of ice began to build up into rapidly growing glaciers that started to coat more of the ravaged land in their chilly grasp, leaving the other team with a lot less space to work with.

 

Then again, considering the vast amount of area that the training grounds held, perhaps that was not so much of a bad thing for either team.

 

And then, from within that wreckage of ice and destruction, Lewis, previously kneeling down after the attack, rose up and seemed to be surveying the landscape in which he had so rudely, and impressively, invaded upon.

 

Lyn easily escaped the ice by unleashing her power on her legs, flying through the field after a well-timed jump allowed her to reach a height far higher than what normal people could have achieved. Undeterred, she landed safely on the pavement without much trouble and pain, which was impressive considering how far she flew and the speed of which she went, far from the cold grasp of Lewis’ attack. Although, the ice seemed to be catching up, albeit rather slowly.

 

Kurt didn’t manage to catch what Nazalia did, but before he knew it, she was also on the ground that wasn’t covered entirely in ice. None of the class seem to know what she did, either, for they were all just as surprised as he was to find that she had dodged the attack. That confusion faded once he, and the rest of the class, noticed the face mask, very similar in design to a gas mask with the oxygen filtration systems, or whatever those were called, that she had worn.

 

Ah, so that’s what she did.

 

It would make sense that she copied Lyn’s power to escape the blast of ice, but how she managed to conjure that much energy so quickly in such a short time after Lewis had struck was the one thing that puzzled Kurt. If he recalled right, Lyn could only release those blasts of power after she absorbed physical force. And, to top it all off, they didn’t exactly have much time for preparations once Lewis assaulted their hideout.

 

Then again, if she had Lyn by her side, all she really would have needed to do was to simply absorb a hit from Lyn and she would be set to go.

 

“Lyn’s team was being too lax. Staying in one place like that for too long tends to be a bad idea,” MoonAir said, his own set of eyes fixed on the screens like everyone else in the room. “But, even so, this should be interesting enough, anyways.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

As soon as Lewis’ attack hit, Lyn knew she didn’t have much time left.

 

The blast she had just conjured which she used to help her escape the initial burst of ice had been a hasty decision, causing her to use more energy than needed. It was an uncontrolled decision, and the result of it left her with muscles that ached sorely, somewhat straining from the amount of energy she had just discharged, and a lot less force than the amount she had been storing up just now. If she had released a reasonably controlled blast instead of the one from earlier, she wouldn’t be suffering from any kind of drawback or recoil.

 

Fuck.

 

What made it worse was that, in her haste, she had used both legs to discharge force, and not just one. Had she been in a calmer state of mind, she might have saved herself some pain, but _damnit_.

 

At the very least, they weren’t broken wasn’t broken. Rather than it feeling like an entire solid block of iron had just crushed her legs into pieces, it was more of a fatigue that came from overworking her muscles after a long, strenuous exercise.

 

To her right, she found that Nazalia was safe and sound and, unlike her, was looking perfectly fine and unbothered. Good for her, she supposed.

 

She stood on slightly shaky and unsteady legs, fighting to control the pain gnawing at her. Her power might have helped increase her physical attributes, but even she had her limits, damn it.

 

She focused on the boy in front of her, striving to keep the throbbing aches in her legs from deterring her. She tried recalling every mantra she had learned to recite from her mother when overexerting her power, meanwhile shifting herself into a stance that felt familiar for her.

 

_Remain calm, stay focused, and above all else, keep a tight fucking handle on that minefield of power._

 

Okay, so she might have altered it just a bit, but damn did it help a lot more.

 

In the midst of her mantra, she recalled a memory from a bit earlier.

 

_“You’ll have to be careful when using my Trait, Naz. You could seriously hurt yourself if you aren’t.”_

 

The pain in her legs hadn’t ebbed yet, not that it was meant to in the first place, but it did help with making sure her power didn’t run wild. It wasn’t as though she could help it – keeping a leash on her ability proved more difficult during the times when her emotions entering a frenzied state she couldn’t control. As a kid, this had never been much of a problem. The thing about her power was absorbing force and discharging it, so as long as she stayed away from blunt things that could hurt her, she wouldn’t accidently discharge any force and end up causing a terrible accident.

 

Of course, growing up made the controlling part progressively harder as time went.

 

Lyn let out a grunt of frustration. That road led to a path of bad memories she didn’t want to relive in right now. Not here.

 

Conscious sufficiently asserted, as much as she could, anyway, Lyn kept her eyes firmly on Lewis. Besides the attack from earlier, he didn’t seem to be doing much yet.

 

Even with the sudden lack of activity from her opponent, Lyn didn’t relax just yet. He might be preparing something, or he might just be waiting for them to make the first move. Either way, this was the one person Lyn absolutely _could not_ go easy on, if only because of how fearsome, so she believed, he was. Letting up even once could easily mean defeat.

 

Lewis crouched slightly, an act that no doubt brought Lyn on edge, and within the blink of an eye, he was suddenly just a few feet away from her, arm reeled back with what looked to be sparks of blue energy coating his entire arm and causing it to shine in a brilliant and ominous bright light.

 

The sound of crackling air and thunder rippled around her, and that was when Lewis’ fist smashed into her arms that were held up in an attempt to defend against the oncoming attack.

 

There might have been a shout of something from her cheese-haired opponent, but the booming sound of deafening thunder rendered whatever he said into a silent voice.

 

Lyn took the blow, her Trait helping to soften it until it hurt as much as a fly swatter, but the rest of the impact caused by Lewis’ magic hadn’t been absorbed at all. She felt her arms singe from the electricity pouring out from the boy’s strike. Her sense of smell was invaded by what seemed to be ozone and smoke filling the air around the two. The strength and power behind that one hit was enough to push her back.

 

At least she managed to defend her target. Wouldn’t do for either her or Naz if she was taken out so soon.

 

Having absorbed enough force, Lyn took a step back, staggering slightly, and made a leap great enough to put some distance between the two after she saw Lewis reach his hand out towards her target. Her landing wasn’t as smooth as she would have liked thanks to the earlier attack sending her already panicking mind into a state of disorganization, but she needed to stay far away from Lewis. She figured he was trying to get her to be disorganized enough so he could easily steal the target she was wearing. If she wanted to win this, then distance was key here, too.

 

However shocking(pun very much _not_ intended) the attack was, it didn’t quite hurt that much. Besides feeling a little disoriented, she was still feeling up to fighting. But how good she would be in a fight right now with the condition she was in was something she didn’t feel too comfortable in answering. She glanced in front of her and–

 

Oh god damnit–

 

Lyn readied her fist to punch the living daylights out of the rapidly approaching psychic in front of her. She spared some energy in case she needed to escape like before, but she was confident that with this much power, she could send Lewis flying with just one critical blow.

 

The psychic was getting nearer, causing her to tense. However, she was instantly surprised to see Lewis jump over her with agility and strength that might have even put her’s to shame. She turned around and, after searching where exactly Lewis was headed towards, immediately gave chase upon seeing his intended target and–

 

Naz easily evaded his fist by sidestepping, which caused Lewis to aim a kick to her side, but even that was dodged.

 

After that, Lewis launched a series of punches and kicks that were avoided by Naz, with varying levels of ease, and difficulty. For the most part, Naz weaved through her opponent’s assault with simple and fluid sidesteps and, but, as the one-sided brawl went on, Lyn noticed something very worrying. As Naz kept dodging, so too did she seem to start showing signs of wariness. The psychic was not letting up, and unlike Naz, Lewis was someone who seemed to have plenty of experience with close-quarters combat. He was also showing no sign of fatigue, and his attacks remained as quick and powerful as they normally did.

 

Even while struggling to keep up with Lewis, Lyn could see that Naz was doing her best to make sure her opponent didn’t come into contact with the target she held. Still, impressive as her teammate’s display was, she needed to do something. _Quick_.

 

With a battle cry, Lyn charged into the field and aimed a fist at Lewis’ exposed side, just in time for Naz to dodge yet another attack, although this time she was getting progressively sluggish. Lyn’s hit struck true, but even with her empowered attack hitting him, it felt like she was punching a solid wall. Whatever Lewis did as a defensive measure, it sure as hell sucked for her knuckles!

 

She cursed in pain, clutching her now bruised fist with her unharmed one. Even through the pain she felt, she was satisfied to see that Lewis was launched far away from the two when she hit him. Fortunately, even with that sudden defense of his, she still managed to at least hinder him from continually harassing Naz. Lyn decided not to question his sudden new ability and chalked it up to his mysterious PSI powers having more than offensive capabilities. Which, now that she thought about it, sucked even more for her chances of success.

 

Why the fuck was she up against the strongest in the class, again?

 

“Right, now that he’s out for a while… what’s our next move?” she cautiously asked Naz, keeping a close eye on the direction Lewis was sent hurtling towards.

 

Naz was looking at the same direction as she was. Only, she was chewing on her lip in anxiousness. “That… depends on how long he stays there,” she answered nervously.

 

Lyn eyed the ruinous landscape warily, narrowing her eyes to see if she could spot just the tiniest hint of yellow in her view. “I’m listening,” was all she said.

 

“Well…”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“That was pretty cool,” Kurt whispered reverently. Sure, hearing about his classmates’ powers was one thing, but seeing it in action was another thing entirely!

 

He wondered if he could even compare with his classmates when it came to strength. Then again, he had to chosen to be a secret agent when coming here, so strength wasn’t the most deciding factor that he should be focusing on.

 

“Great job, Lyn!” Angela cheered, pumping her hands up to the sky. If he didn’t know of how much Lyn despised the girl, he would have found it heartwarming. As it was, however, he wondered if Lyn’s utter hatred towards the blonde wing-girl was entirely justified. She didn’t seem like a bad person so far. Maybe it was just some kind of grudge, in which case he really didn’t need to get involved in whatever it was.

 

The next speaker was someone who was named Josh. Unlike the other Josh in the room, this Josh had a relatively normal hairstyle and was missing the water elemental that Josh the Blue had. Josh the Red’s most interesting and eye-catching feature was the red tape(or… was it a bandage or something?) he had pasted on his nose. Other than the fact that referring to the both of them as Josh would have been simply confusing, that was the most defining thing that led to his recent nicknames for the two.

 

“Ohh, so _that’s_ where he put his target thing,” he said, nodding in understanding while spectating the screen that was displaying Lewis.

 

“Where?” Max excitedly inquired, now focusing her attention on wherever Red Bandaged Josh was looking at.

 

Josh pointed his finger vaguely. “It’s on his side, his right side.”

 

Squinting, Kurt tried to make out the shape of the target. With a bit of focus, he was starting to see it– wait a second.

 

“It’s in the same color as Lyn and Naz!” one observed, voicing his thoughts. The rest of the class let out a collective gasp, excluding a few who Kurt believed had already figured out on their own or were just the type of people who stayed all calm and composed. Though considering what he saw of his classmates during his time here, he highly doubted it was the latter.

 

Kurt was staring at the newly-discolored object when an idea struck him, making him divert his attention from the screen to his teacher.

 

“Um, Mr. MoonAir? I had a thought,” Kurt started timidly, feeling awkward at the mere mention of his teacher. Damnit, where in the name of Arceus did all of his confidence go to?! Speaking to a teacher shouldn’t have to feel this awkward!

 

Said teacher’s gaze, which was previously looking up at the screen in intense concentration, turned to face him. Kurt never noticed before, but there was a coldness to his brown eyes that didn’t seem to have been there back when they were in the classroom. They weren’t terrifying to look at, not at all, but there was a kind of calculating sort of look in those eyes of his. Even beyond that, however, it felt like there was some force or weight that his eyes possessed, which was really odd.

 

“Yes, Kurt?” he asked gently, his voice seeming a lot more warmer than the strangely chilling look that his eyes were giving him.

 

Kurt took in a deep breath, then exhaled. “You said before that… that our targets change color when someone other than ourselves touch it, right?”

 

Mr. MoonAir nodded, turning back to refocus his attention on the scenes of the battlefield in front of him. As he broke his gaze with the grassy reptilian, that odd sense of coldness abated, suddenly seeming as though it had disappeared into the darkness that surrounded the dimly lit room they were currently in. Even stranger, Kurt found that, after its absence, he didn’t really mind that chilly feeling. There was a sort of protectiveness to it, too. How weird.

 

“That is correct,” their solemn teacher concurred.

 

“So,” Kurt began, feeling even more awkward as he thought that Mr. MoonAir probably wasn’t paying attention to him now, likely believing that he was just stating the obvious. Ah, well, his next few words would most likely change his teacher’s mind. Maybe. “Does that mean a teammate could revert it to its original color if they came in contact with it? I mean, you never specified if that someone other than ourselves happened to be an ally, so…”

 

The teacher blinked, then slowly turned back to stare at Kurt. That oddly comforting frozen feeling returned, and Kurt briefly wondered if he was the only one experiencing it. “Impressive, Kurt,” he said, a note of respect entering his voice. “You’re one of the few who managed to find that out. All on your own and not even during your match, no less.”

 

Kurt flushed and averted his eyes, though he did try his best to maintain eye contact. And failed. “Ah, t-thank you,” he sheepishly said, feeling unsure. Was what he said really all that impressive?

 

He could feel his classmates staring at him. Although, unlike the way past classmates had, with their stares of suspicion and discomfort, these were more looks of awe and bewilderment, totally unlike what he was used to experiencing. He wasn’t accustomed to such looks.

 

Ah, how strangely wonderful, he thought.

 

“Hey, hey, Lewis is moving again!” Angela exclaimed, breaking him out of his trance.

 

His attention immediately went back to the front, eager to see what kind of surprise the blond-haired wonder had in store for them. His excited look deflated just a bit when he noticed that Lewis was only standing up and not doing any cool poses. His deflated excitement was then revitalized once he realized that Lewis just flew from a few feet, crashed into some debris with some of it looking way too rough and sharp to be considered even remotely safe, and he just shrugged it off, looking only mildly irritated and not sporting a single serious injury on him. Hell, his _clothes_ didn’t even seem to have suffered a single scratch or tear. Either he had conjured a magical barrier that protected even his own clothing, or the designers behind the PE uniforms knew what they were doing.

 

Kurt gave a tug at his own uniform, wondering what it was made of.

 

“Damn, that guy just doesn’t stay down, does he?” Josh the Red quietly spoke, voicing the thoughts that he and likely a few others in the room shared.

 

“Language, boyo,” Max gently chided, though she spoke in the same hushed tone as Josh had.

 

“Although,” Elaine cut in. “Lewis is only one person. He can’t revert his targets by himself. It gives him a disadvantage, but I doubt that really means much for him.”

 

“Really? How so?” Kurt inquired, turning to face the purple-haired girl with a questioning look. Until now, Kurt had been paying only half of his attention to the commentaries of the other students, but what Elaine said had effectively gathered his full attention.

 

“Well…” she trailed off, her gaze drawn to the screens. “I think we’ll find out soon enough.”

 

Kurt could only raise an eyebrow in response. However, he went back to watching the trial in front of him with the rest of the class once yet another eye-catching event came up.

 

_“Holy shit did Lewis just leap from over more than half his height?”_

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lyn barely had time to react before an entire solid mass of psychic and pure, raw power had slammed into the ground just a few meters away from them. For the second time.

 

 _Holy fuck_.

 

At first, Lyn had thought she was the only student in her class capable of performing something like that and not get hurt in the process. Even then, the state of her knuckles could differ depending on how hard the surface she had hit was. To see Lewis so easily pull off an earthshattering punch to the ground like that and not so much as flinch from the recoil that came with such a blow had triggered a strange, unsettling feeling to coil around inside her, creating an unpleasant effect that caused a deep pit to open in her stomach.

 

Pushing that odd, foreign feeling away, she stopped to wonder how Lewis had done that without hurting himself, _after_ she had gotten to safety. Lyn’s strength and durability came from all the rough training she had put herself up to once she realized the full extent of what her Trait was capable of, but even with that, professional training had never been something she had a chance at where the cost of said training was concerned.

 

Another part of her inability to seek professional help was that, for whatever reason, her parents deemed it unnecessary for her. Initially, she believed it was because they thought she was too young to handle it, but that had been just a guess. And to this day, she had never uncovered just why she was not allowed to partake in something that could help improve her combat skills.

 

At first, the frustration that came from her parents’ rejection was hard to forget. It felt so annoying, so _hurtful_ , when they quickly shot her down, insisting that she forget about taking lessons concerning fighting. Perhaps it had been because they worried about her power and her state of mind, a method of which they used in case she became a backstreet alleyway brawler who fought whoever crossed her path, or something of the sort.

 

It hurt initially, the level of distrust they showed, but once her emotions settled down and she was able to regain some semblance of rationality, she figured it made sense. Sort of.

 

It still hurt, though.

 

“He’s really fond of showy attacks, huh?” Naz said from beside her, having taken cover like her and unknowingly shaking her of her rapidly darkening thoughts. Fortunately, the two were already a good distance away from Lewis when he did that blow, so Lyn hadn’t needed to suffer another crippling attack meant for escape. Her previously injured leg flared up in response.

 

Lyn bit back a curse. She would have liked it if the adrenalin had helped to numb the pain, but having spent the past few seconds discussing about plans had rendered that useless. Fucking hell.

 

Regardless, the self-training she did had given her something of an affinity for broken body parts, so she could handle at least this much more than the average kid her age.

 

Lyn gritted her teeth anxiously. That didn’t seem to matter when she was up against a boy who could take what she had endured at her age and handle it better than she could.

 

A firm shake of her thoughts pulled her out of that depressive line of thought. Just because he seemed invincible didn’t really mean he was. He must have some form of weakness. All she had to do was find that weakness and, during that moment of exploiting it, use it to convert the last target he had left.

 

Entering a full-on headfirst brawl with the psychic wasn’t a good idea. If he was capable of protecting himself against _that_ , then there was a good chance that trying to knock him out would only end up with her being hurt more than either of the two. In the low chance that the strongest of her kinetic blasts worked, it wouldn’t mean a thing since she would take the brunt of the attack, ending in a similar result.

 

Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her Trait in some way. If she could stun Lewis with even a single burst of force, long enough to give Naz an opening, then maybe, just maybe…

 

She snapped her head to her side, where her ally was. “Naz!” she desperately called out. “About your plan from earlier– I’ll be the one to do it!”

 

Wide eyes filled with shock and horror met hers. “Are you sure?! Lyn, if you do that, then–!” she started to protest.

 

“That’s why I’ll be doing it!” Lyn shot back heatedly, tone indicating no room for argument. “In case I get hurt, I can handle it.”

 

The fire that had spawned in Naz’s eyes from the moment Lyn had talked began to die down, but there was still some hesitation left on Naz’s part. She made to say something– and abruptly ran into her and pushed her away.

 

“Look out!” she warned, and that was all Lyn heard before the image of Naz began to fade into the distance. In the split second before she was forcefully shoved, she saw what was a bullet whizz past where she had been. Thanks to the last minute effort of Naz, Lyn was able to dodge that… at the cost of her comrade getting hit by the bullet instead, which erupted into flames the moment it made contact with her, a small fire lighted up on her left shoulder, with the sparks dangerously close to incinerating her hair.

 

The only reason Lyn was able to see her partner’s shoulder burst into flames was because the bursting into flames part happened just a bit after she was pushed, and that gave her just enough time to see the aftereffects before the image slowly began to fade into the horizon.

 

As for the push, it was, unlike a normal push, which only had enough to make her trip up and fall, imbued with the kinetic force that Lyn’s Trait provided. What Lyn could guess was more than half of Naz’s share of energy had just been transferred to her in that one shove.

 

And god damn did it show, when her entire body started to fly backwards and went past an entire field. The sound of rushing air was the first thing she noticed, and once the feel of it registered, she was in the right mind to stabilize her movement.

 

It worked, partially. Being sent rocketing off to different directions thanks to misusage of her Kinetic Storage had been a common occurrence back in her childhood, so she had grown used to it and learned how to deal with it in return. However, that had been when she was prepared to deal with the knockback of her own blasts. Here, she had no warning to help her prepare when she was blown backward. Not to mention how fast she had flown.

 

For a moment, she was grateful to Naz for her action. And for her save, too. Being burnt like that did _not_ look very comforting.

 

And then her gratefulness towards Naz waned slightly when her leg gave the mother of all pained-filled signals to her brain yet again, this time much stronger than the first. Although, to be fair, it wasn’t as though she could be blamed since Lyn hadn’t thought to tell her yet. If she uttered one word about her damaged leg, Naz would undoubtedly be adamantly against her previous exclamation.

 

Well, she would just have to bear with it.

 

Just as she was able to grit through the shocks of pain, she could see the signs of a giant iceberg being formed. And then she saw the iceberg shatter into slightly smaller pieces and fall, medium-sized chunks of it making a slow descent towards the ground where it inevitably shattered into more pieces. Lyn gasped sharply– it seemed Naz was already enacting their plan.

 

She had to follow up, of course. Lyn ran as fast as she could to where she guessed the brawl between her two classmates was taking place. She saw faint sparks of light similar to lightning appear far, far in front of her. Lyn sped up her pace.

 

In the distance, another iceberg formed. This one didn’t shatter.

 

Lyn felt her heart sink.

 

“Damnit, damnit…” she muttered. “Don’t go down on me now, Naz…”

 

She kept running to where the iceberg was, the giant landmark helping her keep a clear idea of where her destination was. In case the worst of her fears had been realized, Lewis would come for her after he beat Naz. Then, she wouldn’t need to run so far, or for so long.

 

But in that case, her plan would be in ashes, and her chances of winning would drop to certain zero.

 

Then, right when her heart started to pulse with terror creeping in her veins, she saw cracks, nearly invisible where she was but growing more apparent the nearer she became, started appearing on the giant mass of ice. The cracks grew larger, and then the iceberg fell.

 

Not entirely, though. The stumps of it remained, but the pieces that had been chipped off the towering mountain of ice collapsed.

 

An immensely relieved sigh left her lungs. Fuck was that too close.

 

She could see the two figures ahead of her fighting, the image becoming clearer with every step she took. Her legs had been threatening to give way and fall on themselves for the past few seconds, but she willed herself to continue. Another second passed, she was almost there.

 

Two seconds, she made a leap. The single leg she used to discharge force reacted so horribly; a spasm of her muscles and yet another one of those terrible shocks of pain.

 

Three seconds, the momentum from her jump started to die down, and then she began her descent. Headfirst to the ground.

 

Four seconds, her fall began to pick up speed.

 

Her mind began to call back to what her mother had told her about her Trait. Possessing the same power as her daughter, she knew enough about her own Trait to help Lyn work on it without floundering much, but not to the point that she was knowledgeable of everything about her Kinetic Storage.

 

_“Your emotions and state of mind can change the output of your power. Anger strengthens it, but you’ll end up being unable to handle the strain once you discharge enough force. Anything else keeps your power at a moderate level and ensures you don’t lose control. At least, that was my experience with it.”_

 

Anger was a concept she easily understood–

 

_When the one person she had been ready to call a friend suddenly turned on her like many others in the past._

 

And she felt the burning, flowing tide of rage coursing through every part of her being almost daily.

 

_How could something so silly scar her so easily?_

 

But to harness it and use it for something good? Something that benefitted her and her… allies?

 

_Since youth, she had always been led to believe anger was a state of an uncontrollable mind. A label for those who lost themselves in the throes of their wrath._

 

_And, since youth, she had done her best to not let her own anger show._

 

_Like many things in her life, that control never lasted._

 

It was a foreign thing. Probably rubbish to the people who had raised her, to the society she had grown up in.

 

_Regret came easy, just as anger did. It caused no destruction or mayhem, but weakness. Weakness that prevented her from holding hatred against others, no matter the past, dark or light, they shared._

 

_Even with all her training, it amounted to nothing._

 

_Hiding behind all her strength and power was a girl who was still weak, it seemed._

 

But, foreign or not, that was how she would win. That was how she would prove that, though she was still just a weakling, she had worth.

 

 _It would prove to herself, and to_ her _, that their words were wrong._

 

A crack, something breaking so easily like glass. It was hard to tell what that something was. Was it the barrier? The bones and flesh in her legs shattering until nothing remained?

 

An answer would never come, either now or anytime later, as Lyn felt the last of her resolve crumble and, and then–

 

The ebony darkness of the abyss swallowed her senses.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

In that one space of opportunity, fear and hope both melded together into her thoughts and mind, creating a feeling both pleasant and not so. It was incredibly risky, and relied too much on the injury of at least one of the two who enacted the plan.

 

It was why Nazalia had proposed she be the one to wear down Lewis’ defense so Lyn could snatch victory into her hands after her sacrifice. Looking back, Nazalia began to think that her plan was absolutely bullheaded and reckless. It was too much for a practice test, but with her general inexperience with battles and planning for them, it was all she could do to come up with a winning strategy.

 

Ah, but that was why she couldn’t risk letting Lyn get hurt. To do so would involuntarily feel like she was responsible for hurting her.

 

That was the situation she wanted to avoid. Better her than an ally, she reasoned.

 

So, if that was so, why had she allowed Lyn to perform the act of sacrificing her well-being that she had originally intended to do?

 

It was hard to argue against someone with a conviction like Lyn’s, she found out. Dearly, she wanted to voice every objection she held, but something about Lyn made her accept, made her follow that slight adjustment to their plan they had created.

 

Or, she thought, was it because she was still too soft of a person?

 

Nazalia rushed ahead after the initial shockwave had passed. It was a thing of beauty, the amount of damage Lyn had caused to the landscape, but now was hardly the time to admire that.

 

She had already fallen down, laying on the floor with her right leg looking an absolute mess. It looked so utterly broken, and while Nazalia was certainly no doctor, she was devastated by the state it was in and wondered how she would recover from… that.

 

She… she allowed this to happen.

 

“Lyn? Lyn?! Hey, come on, wake up–!”

 

“Sorry about this,” a chilling voice muttered regretfully, the words coming as almost a whisper, barely heard from how the world around her devolved into muffled sounds. Nazalia noticed that the speaker, whom she had neglected her attention of, sounded dangerously close to her.

 

An electronic click, followed by an announcement that was hardly more than a buzzing to her ears, with none of the actual words decipherable despite how hard she focused. It felt like dread had crept into her and ceased her ability to hear.

 

She… had just failed, didn’t she?

 

Once that thought had fully registered, she slumped in total despair. The first training exercise she was given and she couldn’t even put up a decent fight. Tension left her shoulders, and she felt limp, like she would fall down like her friend if she made another move.

 

A defeat. A completely overwhelming defeat.

 

Perhaps she never stood a chance to begin with, but she hadn’t wanted to give up so quickly, and so early, too. Now that she experienced this crushing defeat, was there anything she could have done better? A slight fix to the plan that went completely wrong?

 

This was just training, meant to help one understand the limits and strengths of their own Traits and, regardless of who won, both parties would find their own way to improve and grow. It would be a test to further develop one’s abilities, not stunt them.

 

But Nazalia couldn’t feel any sense of encouragement, any sense of wanting to improve, when she saw how hurt Lyn looked. The school had the people and resources ready to heal her up in time, yes, but that she was hurt so badly like this in the first place just left an awful taste in her mouth.

 

Then when Lyn was picked up by some unfamiliar people in uniform, must be the staff, she thought, her gaze lingered on her… friend, she supposed. Considering she was the one who volunteered, she wouldn’t hold a grudge against her. But Nazalia could hardly feel relief even from that. If she had prevented this from happening, prevented Lyn from getting herself damaged that badly, would the outcome have changed, or it would have stayed the same?

 

Perhaps it was worth thinking on, perhaps not.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

He stared at the shell-shocked form of Nazalia. There was a distant, far-off look in her eyes that indicated that she was entirely lost, like being in a forest surrounded by thick foliage with no way to tell where she was. She looked like she needed someone to pull her out of that forest and into the world unshrouded by darkness and danger, in a world filled with sunshine and no suffocating landscape to pull her deeper into the chasm of despair.

 

Lewis wasn’t that kind of person – he already had trouble socializing with his classmates, but leaving Nazalia here to stew in her own regrets and worries alone until someone brought her to her senses did not sit right with him.

 

Grimacing, he stepped towards her and took in a deep breath. “Come on, we should get back.”

 

She started, jumping slightly in shock. A beat passed, and Lewis assumed she was gathering her thoughts and composing herself.

 

“Mm,” she nodded in dejection, depression hanging heavily on her shoulders like deadweights.

 

Lewis warily watched her, something akin to concern growing, but he didn’t have time to consider that when an elevator popped up right in front of him.

 

“Ah… this was the elevator we used,” Nazalia commented offhandedly, a spark of recognition lighting up amid the sunken hopes and broken dreams clouding her eyes.

 

“I see.”

 

Silence reigned over the two as they stepped inside the elevator that awaited for them.

 

Lewis made to press the button for the… he supposed the first floor was where they were meant to go to, but before his finger could brush over it, the doors closed by themselves and down they went.

 

Mr. MoonAir must’ve done it, he realized.

 

Seconds passed on by, and the silence and tension grew thicker. Lewis continued to admire the steel walls surrounding him, and Nazalia seemed preoccupied with the floor. The only sound that accompanied their wary journey was the sound of the elevator as it carried them towards their destination.

 

Lewis eyebrows narrowed in concentration, his brain working for a way to ease the silence. Had socializing skills been a part of his repertoire, an answer would have come in an instant, but as it was…

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

A pair of scarlet eyes turned to stare at him in wide-eyed shock, and Lewis shared the feeling. He was as surprised as Nazalia was when those words left his mouth.

 

Before he could say anything further, Nazalia simply smiled, though it was more broken than genuine.

 

“No, don’t be,” she cut in. “I… it was my fault… my idea for Lyn to get hurt like… like this. If anything, I’m the one who has to apologize.”

 

An abrupt and bitter laugh resounded in the room. “Can you believe that, originally, I had planned to do that dropkick attack so Lyn wouldn’t be hurt? I didn’t really know how else to deal with your powers. I–” she cut herself off with a choke. Whatever else she was about to say swiftly died, and with a shake of her head, her downcast eyes followed her to the elevator doors and to where the waiting room for the rest of the class most likely was. Her eyes stayed glued to the ground the whole time.

 

Lewis had a few words to say about that, about how it was his doing that led to her injured state, and that she had only chosen the smartest plan to take, but the psychic had never been one for emotional support. The words he meant to say to help bring her out of her depressed state of being fell short, throat locking in place as it blocked out any and all of the words he had wished to speak aloud from rising.

 

Instead of comforting her, or maybe anything to help her feel better, all he did was look in the direction Nazalia had left in, an uncomfortably dead look in his half-lidded eyes and an unnaturally heavy pit in his stomach as he muttered.

 

“Right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly looking back I still want to rewrite the first half of this chapter, but it's already been 151 days or so since the last update so I didn't want to make you guys wait even further.
> 
> Ah, well. Review and tell me what your thoughts for this chapter were. I'd love to hear them!
> 
> Secondly, don't be afraid to give critique- I'm a newb author and I'm not ashamed to admit it, so I'll need all the help I can get.

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I’VE FINALLY FINISHED THIS DAMN CHAPTER AFTER ALMOST A YEAR SINCE I FIRST THOUGHT OF MAKING THIS A THING AAAAAAAA
> 
> i swear this one chapter has gone through literally 9 or so varients until I finally decided on this. The day has come indeed
> 
> Well, that aside, I’d personally love to hear what y’all thought of this. I’m still a relatively new author, so I wouldn’t mind a little constructive criticism.
> 
> Anyhow, I look forward to seeing you all in the next chapter! Till then.


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